Washington vintners on both sides of the Cascade Mountains are making ever-better wines. The nation has figured out that we make a great syrah and that our first claim to fame, Riesling, is making a comeback.
Washington’s newest appellation is the Wahluke Slope, a broad, south-facing hillside between the Columbia River and the Saddle Mountains north of the Tri-Cities. It’s one of the earliest areas in Washington to start grape harvest.
Looking south toward the Columbia River, workers hand pick merlot grapes destined for a small winery.
A worker in the Wahluke Slope Vineyard spills his grapes into a bin.
These grapes are going to the Three Rivers winery in Walla Walla. In the background, vineyard manager Tom Thorson talks with an Arbor Crest winemaker about the ripeness of the grapes.
Another of the newer appellations is Red Mountain, now one of the most coveted places to grow grapes in the state. Here Kiona’s winemaker Scott Williams ’80 sits in front of a neighbor’s vineyard above a bend in the Yakima River.
Williams’s father, John ’61, and mother Ann ’63 founded the winery with a partner in the 1970s and were among the first to plant grapes on Red Mountain. Today, well-known wineries throughout the state use Red Mountain’s grapes as the backbone for their high-end red wines.
Williams pulls a sample of chardonnay that had been pressed just three days earlier. The juice is sweet and effervescent.
Kiona has plans to grow with the Red Mountain community. The Williams family has already broken ground on a new cellar and tasting room.
