During the growing season, our winemakers closely observe, evaluate, and manage the growth in vineyards all over Oregon and Washington wine country. They do this throughout the summer, visiting each and every vineyard that grows grapes for our wines. This update for the second week of July, details their observations of our Washington state vineyards.
Ben Howe and I headed to Washington bright and early on Thursday, July 12th. This was our first trip to WA this growing season and the vines were already approaching lag phase if not in it already. They are ahead of last year and looking much better with regard to some of the disease pressure seen then. We covered the Horse Heaven Hills and Walla Walla AVAs. The fruit at Alder Ridge was already shooting down its growth for the year and getting a drink of water to help moderate the triple digit temps the area has been seeing. The Benches was also a pleasure to visit, showing a great crop, especially in the Riesling. We could see well over 240 tons off our block this year. We also discussed moving into a couple new blocks of Merlot (terraced) and Cabernet (down at the bottom of their ranch called the R’s). Then we traveled over to lovely Walla Walla to visit Heather Hill, Seven Hills, and Les Collines. All were looking top notch!
– Jeff Kandarian, Director of Winemaking
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