Moving on from Wine Enthusiast

After nine and a half years, I am moving on from Wine Enthusiast.

I started at the magazine as a contributing editor at the beginning of 2013. Since that time, I have reviewed nearly 13,000 wines and authored over 90 articles for Enthusiast.

I began by covering parts of Washington along with Southern Oregon and Idaho. Since the beginning of 2015, I have covered Washington in its entirety. As of this year, I have also been covering all of Oregon and Canada for the magazine.

During my tenure, I have tried to cover the regions in my beat to the fullest of my abilities with the passion and integrity required of any critic. Given how fast the Pacific Northwest wine scene is evolving, doing the region justice has been no easy task. This is an extremely exciting time in the region. The wines have never been better than they are today. I have tried to reflect all this. It has been an honor to tell this story to the readers of Wine Enthusiast.

It has also been a great privilege to work with some of the finest wine writers and critics in the business over the last nine and a half years. In particular, I want to thank my colleague and friend Paul Gregutt for initially recommending me to Wine Enthusiast. I also want to thank Lauren Buzzeo for hiring me when she was tasting director and then continuing to support me as managing editor and earlier this year as executive editor.

Leaving Wine Enthusiast after so long is no doubt bittersweet, and I leave with some business unfinished. I want to offer my sincerest of apologies to producers in Oregon and Canada, who welcomed me with open arms when I took over covering these regions at the beginning of this year and also generously offered me their time over the last six months.

As I said to many people when I took the position, I very much understand how disruptive reviewer changes are for wineries and in fact entire wine regions. I do not take such changes lightly. For making another change this quickly, I am truly sorry. However, I guarantee you the time we spent together was not wasted.

My reasons for leaving Wine Enthusiast are professional, not personal. Some know I have had health issues over the years. I want everyone to know that my leaving Wine Enthusiast has nothing to do with that. I am fine.

I will have more to say about my plans going forward in the future. I will say for now, however, that this is not the end of my time writing about and reviewing Northwest wine. Rather it is the beginning of a new chapter.

I intend to continue writing about Pacific Northwest wineries and rating and reviewing the area’s wines as I have for the last 18 years. This includes wines from Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and British Columbia. More to come.

Note to producers: My intention is to review and score all wines that have been submitted prior to today’s date for Wine Enthusiast. Please contact me if you have any questions. 

One year later, a look back at the Pacific Northwest’s 2021 Heat Dome

 The following article was written by Michael Fagin. Fagin is an operational meteorologist providing weather forecasts to clients in the Pacific Northwest and providing custom forecast for groups climbing Mt. Everest and other major peaks. Michael is also a travel writer with a focus on weather and wine.

Anyone who lives in the Pacific Northwest remembers the scorching heat of late June 2021. Poor Seattle, where an estimated 44% of homes have air conditioners, had three consecutive days of temperatures 100+ degree Fahrenheit from June 26th to June 28th. June 28 had a new record of 108 degrees, which is an astonishing 34 degrees above normal.

Of course Puget Sound is not in Washington’s main wine growing region. So how hot was it in the Columbia Basin? Hanford, near the center of the basin, officially broke the record for the hottest day ever in Washington at 120 degrees on June 29.

How about Oregon? Portland also had three consecutive days of 100+ degrees with an all-time record of 116 on June 28. Salem, in the middle of the state's main growing region, had a record of 117. Oregon tied an all-time high of 119 at Pelton Dam in eastern Oregon.

Why was it so hot?

What caused the extreme temperatures? There were several things going on.

First, there was an exceptional, and perhaps record-breaking, strong ridge of high pressure in the upper atmosphere (see map, photo credit). Under these conditions air sinks and compresses and, according to physics, the air mass warms as this happens. Furthermore, there were southeast winds at times that brought in dry, warm air. The bottom line, this all contributed to the record breaking heat.

Another reason for the record heat? Willamette Valley and Puget Sound usually get westerly winds that bring cool marine air at times and a cooling fog. Great for the Pinots!

However, during the record heat there were easterly winds at the surface and aloft. As this air from the Cascade crest is forced toward Willamette Valley and Puget Sound, physics once again dictates that when air sinks it warms up. Thus, there was the perfect combination of strong upper-level ridge (aka heat dome) and the east winds leading to record temperatures.

Right after this heat wave, some growers gave a sigh of relief. They had a wet spring which helped to provide much needed water for the vines during the heat wave. Also the heat was early in the summer, so they did not expect much damage since the berries were small and green. Also, the grapes benefitted from the canopy, which was full of green growth to protect the berries to some extent.

What also took the edge off the record heat in many areas in Washington and Oregon was that there was a cool fall. Looking at Growing Degree Days, although 2021 was much higher than normal, it was not as high as the last warm season of 2015 (Growing Degree Days are average temperatures over 50 from April 1st to October 31st). The graph shown here is for the Red Mountain appellation, which is representative of this trend found in some other Washington regions in 2021.

Were yields impacted? Yes, according to the Washington State Wine Commission. They indicated that the record breaking heat in 2021 resulted in lower yields.

Is this the new normal?

Is June 2021 going to be a regular pattern? There is little doubt that our summers are getting warmer, as the graph indicates (photo credit NOAA). However, there is debate whether this event was caused by global warming.

According to extensive research from meteorologist Cliff Mass, his conclusion and title says “Was Global Warming the Cause of the Great Northwest Heatwave? Science Says No.” Dr Mass makes several key points that brought this extreme event.

First of all, the ridge of high pressure at 18,000 feet “was the most intense ever observed in the region.” This high pressure brings strong sinking of the air mass along with the strong warming associated with this.

Secondly, there was this “supercharger” in action. The supercharger was the positioning of high pressure and low pressure. There was the aforementioned upper level ridge of high pressure over the northwest and a trough of low pressure off the Northern California coast.

This unique position and combination brought strong southeasterly winds that pulled air from the desert Southwest. Then this air mass subsequently descended the west slopes of the Cascades where the air was further compressed and warmed.

“Everything had to come together just right to give us this extreme event,” Mass said.

In concluding, Dr. Mass thought this heat from last June was a “Black Swan” heatwave, given the exceptional atmospheric conditions that occurred. Dr. Mass went on to say “global warming marginally increas[ed] the peak temperatures by perhaps a few degrees.”

Meanwhile the international organization WorldWeatherAttribution.org (WWA) took a different view and issued a statement saying “In summary, an event such as the Pacific Northwest 2021 heatwave is still rare or extremely rare in today’s climate yet would be virtually impossible without human-caused climate change. As warming continues, it will become a lot less rare.”

Will this record-breaking heat dome be a yearly occurrence? Probably not. How often will events like this occur? It is not known.

What is known is that events like this could be perilous for the wine industry. Had this event occurred later in the growing season when grapes were more fully developed, the results could have been devastating. Warmer summers also have growers concerned with which varieties will thrive in this type of environment.

Heat events like this aren't the only concern. With summer predictions of above normal likelihood of significant wildland fires there will be concern once again of the risk of potential smoke impact should these fires occur. 

Although much of Washington and Oregon has had a cold and wet spring in 2022, there is concern that we get dry and warm conditions in July and August. After all, this has been the default pattern recently. In conclusion, the wine industry in Washington and Oregon will continue to be concerned with these summer weather conditions in the years to come.

Full statement from Ste Michelle on property listing and moving white wine production

In the interest of completeness, below is the full statement I was provided by Chateau Ste Michelle on Monday June 20th regarding moving white wine production to eastern Washington and the listing of its Woodinville property for sale. Much of this statement was quoted in my original article:

At Chateau Ste. Michelle, we continually strive to craft high-quality, flavorful, award-winning wines while always looking for ways to improve how we produce our wines and strengthen our commitment to sustainability. We recently made the decision to consolidate our white wine production in Woodinville to our Eastern Washington facilities, where we make our Chateau Ste. Michelle red wines, starting with the 2022 harvest. Producing wine in Woodinville so far removed from our Eastern Washington vineyards has resulted in decades of shipping millions of gallons of white wine to our Woodinville facility and burning nearly 75,000 gallons of diesel through over 1,600 freight trips each year. 

With this change to our winemaking operations, we are evaluating how to best utilize the facility going forward, including exploring a potential sale of our Woodinville property, or perhaps a portion of it. While a sale of the property has not been predetermined, we are considering all options as we continue to look for ways to improve how we produce our wines, strengthen our commitment to sustainability, and grow the Chateau Ste. Michelle brand. This process is still in the exploratory phase and could take years to implement, if at all. In the meantime, we will continue to make world-class Chateau Ste. Michelle wines from Washington’s top vineyards, host exciting wine experiences in our tasting room, and welcome the community to our 2022 Summer Concert Series.

Image by Richard Duval. 

Washington’s Ste Michelle puts Woodinville property up for sale, moves white wine production to eastern Washington

Chateau Ste Michelle, the Pacific Northwest’s largest winery by a mile, has put its flagship Woodinville property up for sale. The 118 acre site, which includes the iconic chateau that adorns the winery’s labels, was listed earlier this month by CBRE Inc., a commercial real estate company based in Dallas, Texas. The price has not been disclosed. The winery will also move all of its white wine production, which has previously been taking place in Woodinville, to eastern Washington.

"With this change to our winemaking operations, we are evaluating how to best utilize the facility going forward, including exploring a potential sale of our Woodinville property, or perhaps a portion of it," Ste Michelle said in a statement to media. "While a sale of the property has not been predetermined, we are considering all options as we continue to look for ways to improve how we produce our wines, strengthen our commitment to sustainability, and grow the Chateau Ste Michelle brand."

The property listing includes Ste Michelle’s chateau, tasting rooms, a banquet facility, office space, a theatre, a 100,000+ square foot warehouse, and 50,000 square feet of barrel storage. The listing states that the expansive property is “primed for redevelopment and can accommodate a variety of uses, such as industrial, residential, office & life science, all of which are in short supply in Seattle’s burgeoning Eastside.”

Ste Michelle’s 1M+ case white wine production will move to its Canoe Ridge winemaking facility in eastern Washington’s Horse Heaven Hills starting with the 2022 vintage. Given the sheer size of its white wine efforts, presumably other facilities will be used as well. Ste Michelle's red wine production has taken place at Canoe Ridge since 1993. That site has occasionally had a tasting room over the years but is not currently open to the public.

Ste Michelle said of this change, “Producing wine in Woodinville so far removed from our Eastern Washington vineyards has resulted in decades of shipping millions of gallons of white wine to our Woodinville facility and burning nearly 75,000 gallons of diesel through over 1,600 freight trips each year.”

This is no doubt true. The winery’s enormous white wine production has always required coordinating with numerous other businesses to provide fermenting juice and to a lesser extent finished wine to its Woodinville hub, far from where the grapes are. However, Ste Michelle no longer producing any wine at its giant facility in Woodinville would surely beg the question of whether the property was being used to its fullest value. The grounds are far too large and expensive to retain as only office space and a tasting room. 

Founded in 1967, Ste Michelle Vintners moved to Woodinville from Seattle in 1976, building a chateau and rebranding itself Chateau Ste Michelle. The property, originally called Hollywood Farm, had been owned by lumber baron Frederick Stimson (1868-1921). 

In the ensuing 46 years since Ste Michelle moved to Woodinville, 130+ wineries and tasting rooms have sprung up around it, driven in large part by Ste Michelle’s presence.

Presumably if Ste Michelle were to sell the property in full, the winery would look for another space in Woodinville to call home. The winery is too synonymous with the town to not retain a strong presence there. If it were to fully leave Woodinville, the effects on the area, western Washington’s wine industry, and Washington wine more generally would be incalculable.

Over 300,000 visitors come to Ste Michelle each year, for tastings and annual summer concerts on the lawn. These visitors drive tourism to the town’s wineries, restaurants, and other businesses. If that were to cease or even greatly diminish, every winery in the area – and truly every winery in Washington – would be affected to varying degrees.

"If they turn the mothership over, obviously it would have a great impact," says Chris Sparkman, owner of Sparkman Cellars, which is located a stone's throw from the Chateau. "But one of the things we've always done is just kind of not get terribly overexcited about anything, focus on what we do and what we can control, try to be a good neighbor, and do our thing."

Sparkman, who has an international environmental policy degree and who also served as an agroforester in the Peace Corps, takes the long view. "These things happen in ecosystems where the mother log breaks down and eventually goes away, and it's built this thriving ecosystem around it."

Ste Michelle emphasizes that it is not fully committed to selling its Woodinville property. Rather, it is exploring selling all or part of it. The winery says, “This process is still in the exploratory phase and could take years to implement, if at all.”

Given the size and scale of the property as well as the complexities of its zoning, any sale and subsequent changes would surely not happen quickly. Of note, over half of the existing property is only zoned for residential use. Additionally, the Stimson Manor residence and original Hollywood Farm property are listed in the National Register of Historic Places which might provide some limited protection. 

  
The listing of the property comes as Ste Michelle Wine Estates, the parent company of Ste Michelle, has fallen on hard times in recent years. Formerly owned by tobacco giant Altria, the company announced a $292 million inventory write-off as well as $100 million in losses on non-cancellable grape purchases in 2020. Case production has decreased by more than 1.2M since 2016. The winery, which owned or controlled 70% of Washington’s wine grape acreage 10 years ago, now controls less than 50%.

In 2021, Ste Michelle was purchased by Sycamore Partners, a New York-based private equity firm, for a reported $1.3B. While the company indicated at the time its intent to invest and grow the business, a commitment that is believed to remain, the sale brought much handwringing in the industry that the company and the “string of pearls” that former CEO Ted Baseler helped create might be sold for parts and quick financial gain. Baseler retired in 2018 after 34 years at the company, including 17 as president and CEO. The company has had two CEOs since.

However, the hope was that the purchase by Sycamore would instead allow Ste Michelle to regain its footing and reestablish itself as Washington’s flagship winery while growing the brand. That might still happen, particularly if Sycamore invests significantly in the winery's growth. However, Sycamore putting Ste Michelle's namesake property up for sale seems an ominous turn.

There is also an age-old saying in the state’s wine industry that 'As Ste Michelle goes, so goes Washington wine.' If true, these changes might augur hard times ahead for the state’s vintners.

At the same time, many other Washington wineries are currently flourishing, with some of their best sales years ever recently. Other major players, such as Jackson Family Wines, are showing interest in Washington and might eventually fill some of the vacuum created by Ste Michelle dropping vineyard acreage. Jackson Family purchased its first vineyard in Washington earlier this year. Ste Michelle pulling back from thousands of acres of vineyard contracts in recent years has also opened up opportunities for others, though no winery as of yet has shown Ste Michelle's once insatiable appetite for fruit.

Whether Ste Michelle’s Woodinville property is ultimately sold or not, the winery currently being in the doldrums means Washington’s 1,000-plus wineries that have followed the company’s lead for decades now have to focus on fending for themselves. That said, an increasing number of wineries are well-positioned to do so.

In the end, for many, Ste Michelle and the chateau itself are synonymous with Washington wine. If the company ultimately sells the chateau and its grounds, it will leave a hole in the heart of Washington wine that will never be mended. Moreover, what is Chateau Ste Michelle if it has no chateau? The company and brand would surely continue on in Woodinville or elsewhere, but the lights would go out on Ste Michelle’s shining chateau and grounds.

“Woodinville needs to prepare itself for the possibility of a post-Ste Michelle era,” says one winery owner, who preferred to remain anonymous. 

Graphic from CBRE Inc property listing. Photograph by Richard Duval. 

This article has been updated. The original version stated the the chateau building itself was part of the National Register of Historical Places. This is incorrect. Rather, it is the original Stimson Manor and Hollywood Farm that are part of the register. Additionally, the protection this provides is quite limited.

Celebrating 18 years of Washington Wine Report

Over the years, I have often told the story of the inception of Washington Wine Report. It turns out that the story I was telling was wrong.

The story that I have told innumerable times goes like this.

In 2005, a friend and I travelled out to Yakima Valley and visited a series of wineries. After this trip, my friend asked me to write up my notes and scores of the wines we tasted. I did so and emailed the notes to him. He subsequently distributed those notes and reviews to his friends. These friends shared them with their friends and so on and so on.

Washington Wine Report was born. I called it that at the top of the emails because that was what it was – a report on Washington wines. It began the year of that trip as an email distribution list. 15 years ago today, June 17th 2007, I launched Washington Wine Report as an on-line site. Over the next several years, I transitioned from the long-form PDF reports I distributed via email to being fully on-line.

As I approached today’s on-line anniversary, I started to wonder, what was the date when my friend and I first went out to Yakima Valley? When exactly did all this really start?

I did some digging into my historical records. In the 2000s, I kept weekly planners detailing what I did each day. I looked through 2005. I found no record of a trip to Yakima Valley. To say I was surprised would be an understatement. I looked through 2006. I also found no record of a trip to Yakima Valley. How could I have not written down such a momentous turning point in my life?

I reached out to my friend who accompanied me to Yakima Valley that year to see if he had any remembrances or any pictures. He had both.

It turns out the year he and I travelled to Yakima Valley was 2004 according to his pictures. I subsequently looked at my planner for that year and confirmed the same. It was April 25th 2004. We went out to the valley for Spring Barrel Weekend.

I recall visiting Apex Cellars and talking with Brian Carter (now Brian Carter Cellars). I also recall going to Goose Ridge and being impressed by their Sol Duc. My friend recalled, which I had initially forgotten, a trip to Hightower on Red Mountain. Hightower poured two wines made from the same fruit, one aged in Hungarian oak and one aged in French oak. The comparison was an early wine revelation for me.

The next weekend, another friend and I travelled out to Walla Walla for Spring Release. This was my first time visiting the valley, and I was hooked on the area’s wines and other charms. I have been ever since.

I very much remember that trip to Walla Walla, including a dinner at now defunct Grapefields. But what I had forgotten is that on the way back home, we met up with my friend I had been to Yakima Valley with the weekend before.

We went to Red Mountain to visit more wineries. I remember tasting wine in the basement at Kiona and visiting Terra Blanca. I bought a magnum of Terra Blanca’s Merlot, which was a wine I used to buy frequently from the wine shop up the street from where I lived then and now. Other places we visited that day are sadly lost to the sands of time. I used to have many of my original paper notes. However, I discarded them a few years back when my wife and I moved (yes, it was her idea that I divest of my large stash of handwritten hoarder notes).

So, in the end, the story I’ve been telling was right, but the year was wrong. It was a 2004 trip to Yakima Valley that ultimately changed the course of my life, not a 2005 trip. I am more than a little surprised, but memory is, of course, fallible.

I am also amazed that two such momentous trips – the trip to Yakima Valley and my first trip to Walla Walla Valley and Red Mountain – occurred within a week of each other. Talk about a life changing seven days, though I surely could not have fully appreciated in the impact at the time. It’s also a good reminder that any day, maybe even today, momentous changes are possible. They might start in seemingly the smallest of ways.

The picture here is of a very young me standing next to Lemberger vines at Kiona with my friend’s puppy. I’ve also included a snapshot of the daily planner, with my pushbutton pencil writing.

Over the ensuing years, I eventually stopped detailing the events of each day. My friend’s puppy grew up, grew old, and eventually passed. I grew older too, so much so that this picture almost seems unrecognizable to me now.

But 18 years later, I continue to write about and review Washington and now Pacific Northwest wine, as I started doing formally after that trip. It has been quite a ride.

A (quite) delayed bloom begins in Columbia Valley

Bloom has begun in Columbia Valley. Lacey Lybeck at Sagemoor Vineyards reports seeing bloom in Weinbau Vineyard Chardonnay on the Wahluke Slope on June 4th. Lybeck also saw bloom in Chardonnay at Sagemoor and Bacchus vineyards in the White Bluffs on June 6th. 

Below is a look at how these dates compare with recent years. Of note, 2016 started out historically warm before cooling off somewhat in the middle and later parts of the season. In contrast, 2017 and 2019 had cooler starts to the growing season as reflected in the dates below. 2022 is considerably delayed from the prior six years due to the quite cool start to the season. 

In fact, according to Growing Degree Days, a measure of heat accumulation during the growing season, 2022 is currently tracking quite closely to 2011, which was Washington's coolest vintage on record. That said, a growing season is a book of many chapters; only the first several have currently been written for 2022.

Image and data courtesy of Lacey Lybeck, Sagemoor Vineyards. Follow Sagemoor's Instagram site here.

Growing Degree Day chart from Washington State University

Rocky Reach: an in-depth look at Washington’s newest appellation

Today the Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) approved Washington’s newest appellation, Rocky Reach. The approval comes on the heels of three appellations last year, bringing the state’s total number of viticultural regions to 20. Here we take an in-depth look at the appellation.

Overview

Rocky Reach is located in the northwestern section of the Columbia Valley, just south of the Lake Chelan appellation. The appellation’s approval brings Columbia Valley’s number of sub-appellations to 16.

Rocky Reach gets its name from a term that steamboat captains used to refer to the stretch of rapids, or “reach,” in the Columbia River where Rocky Reach Dam is now located. Rocky Reach straddles the Columbia River, with 24% of the area occupied by the river and Rocky Reach Reservoir. The appellation is 32,333 total acres in size, with 117 acres currently under vine.

As a growing region, Rocky Reach has three key distinguishing features: its bedrock, its soils and flattop terraces, and its heat accumulation.

Metamorphic crystalline bedrock

Basalt is the ubiquitous bedrock throughout the Columbia Valley. Rocky Reach, however, is an exception.

“There's no basalt bedrock within the boundaries of the AVA,” says VinTerra Consulting’s Kevin Pogue, who was contracted to write the appellation application by area growers. Instead, Rocky Reach is mostly granitic gneisses, or what geologists refer to as metamorphic crystalline bedrock.

Historically, like the rest of the Columbia Valley, Rocky Reach was covered by basalt from lava flows that occurred 15M years ago. However, over time the Columbia River cut through the basalt to reveal the underlying basement rock. As a result, Rocky Reach has bedrock unique from most other areas of the Columbia Valley.

“It has a very different chemical composition from basalt,” Pogue says of Rocky Reach’s bedrock.

Basalt is rich in minerals like iron, magnesium, and feldspar. In contrast, Rocky Reach’s bedrock is silica-rich and dominated by minerals like quartz and mica. Vines in the appellation that reach bedrock will therefore encounter a different suite of minerals. Lake Chelan is the only other appellation in Columbia Valley that shares this bedrock.

Cobblestone and gravel soils on flattop terraces

Rocky Reach’s soils also differ from those found elsewhere in Columbia Valley. They are composed of cobblestones and gravels overlaid by wind-deposited sand and silt.

Rocky Reach itself was never glaciated, but the area was heavily impacted by glacial outwash. The northern boundary of the appellation is the southern extent of the Okanogan Lobe of the Cordilleran ice sheet that channeled glacial ice down Okanagan Valley during the last ice age.

“There was meltwater gushing out of [the glacier], and it basically filled the valley of the Columbia River with gravels,” explains Pogue.

As the glacier retreated, the Columbia River reestablished its original course, cutting into the gravels. The last of the Missoula Floods, a series of cataclysmic floods that inundated the Columbia Valley over 15,000 years ago, further sculpted and eroded the valley. The results are soils and terrain that are quite different from other regions in Columbia Valley.

“There’s just an obscene amount of outwash or redeposited gravels and sands and cobble,” says Shane Collins, director of viticulture at Rocky Pond Winery.

Rocky Pond has its production facility – the only winery within Rocky Reach’s boundaries – and two vineyards in the appellation. Notably, the cobblestone and gravel soils are often on flat-topped terraces located near the canyon floor.

“It's been a famous place for orchards for a very, very long time, and all the orchards and now the vineyards are taking advantage of these flat top terraces that sit on either side of the river,” says Pogue.

Rocky Reach’s soils have several impacts on viticulture. As in The Rocks District of Milton-Freewater which is also known for its cobblestones, the stones absorb heat and radiate it in the infrared to grapevines and clusters, promoting faster ripening. However, the cobbles in The Rocks District are primarily made of basalt; cobbles in Rocky Reach are primarily granitic. Additionally, the soils are extremely well-drained, encouraging vines to root into deeper soil horizons.

“Water moves through really, really quickly,” says Collins. “I’ve had to learn a lot about different water management strategies.” Rocky Pond has another vineyard, Rocky Reach, located next to the Columbia River that has a different soil profile.

“There’s three to six feet of beach sand that’s all blown in to this area,” says Collins. “It’s like a completely different world.”

More heat accumulation than surrounding regions

The final defining feature of the appellation is its heat accumulation. Elevations within Rocky Reach range from approximately 700 feet above sea level to just under 1,600 feet, considerably lower than surrounding areas. For this reason, Rocky Reach is markedly warmer.

“It's the hottest place in that area,” says Pogue. This makes it well-suited to many red wine varieties. Areas right by the river can be extremely warm.

“Our Growing Degree Days on the river are about the same as Red Mountain believe it or not,” says David Dufenhorst, who owns Rocky Pond Winery with his wife Michelle. “So we get heat here.”

In terms of varieties, Pogue sees some natural fits. “The rocky soils and the warm temperatures, to me, screams Rhône.” While there are Rhône varieties planted in Rocky Reach, at present, Cabernet Sauvignon is the most planted variety, though there are more than 15 varieties planted.

Differences from Lake Chelan appellation

While Lake Chelan and Rocky Reach share the same bedrock, these two appellations have significant differences. First, Lake Chelan was glaciated; Rocky Reach was not. Chelan also has significant amounts of volcanic ash and pumice from eruptions of nearby Glacier Peak. All of that material was washed out of Rocky Reach by the Missoula Floods and Columbia River.

Rocky Reach also has a higher percentage of cobblestones and gravel. Soils in the Lake Chelan appellation meanwhile are deeper, have more glacial till, and are not on flood terraces.

“The soils are not as loamy [as Chelan] and are much better drained,” Collins says comparing Rocky Reach to the Lake Chelan appellation. The two appellations also have differences in heat accumulation.

“It's warmer than Chelan, actually significantly warmer,” says Alex Kelly, who manages Pierre Vineyard in the appellation. The heat impacts what can be grown in Rocky Reach and also results in significant differences in the wines compared to Chelan.

“I taste things that are similar in terms of the phenolics to warmer regions to the south that I don't think I got at all from the Chelan AVA,” says Collins.

A young growing region

While Rocky Reach has long been known for its orchards, the area’s first vineyard plantings were in 2015 when the Dufenhorst family began planting Double D Vineyard. The name is a callout to his family’s long history of people with two Ds in their name. At 65 acres, it is by far the largest vineyard within the appellation and more than half of the currently planted acreage.

“The first 30 acres we planted was fallow land,” says Dufenhorst. “It had never been planted with fruit trees because it was so rocky. I was holding my breath that anything would grow.” The initial vines did well, and the vineyard has now been expanded, with additional acreage planned.

Dufenhorst, who moved to the area to retire after a career in real estate, purchased the land from the Pierre family. The Pierre family also has a home, a 14 acre vineyard, and other acreage in the appellation. Jamie Pierre, who passed away in January of 2021, was one of the driving forces for the area becoming its own appellation.

“As often happened with Jamie, he absolutely lucked into the best wine ground that you could imagine,” chuckles Kelly, his son-in-law. “He had a knack of doing that.”

Grand plans for Rocky Reach’s future

Overall, though viticulture in Rocky Reach is just over seven years old, the area is making quick strides. The appellation currently has eight vineyards in addition to numerous orchards. The wines from Rocky Pond Winery have been impressive and distinctive. Rocky Pond’s hiring of Elizabeth Keyser of HALL Family Wines earlier this year should only further elevate the wines.

Meanwhile the Pierre family is currently growing grapes for sparkling wine, part of Jamie’s promise to his wife Barbara. They are also growing head-trained Grenache on the terraces. Much like in Walla Walla Valley’s Rocks District, Kelly says farming in Rocky Reach is no easy venture.

“It's rough on people,” Kelly says. “It’s all cobbles on top. Farming those terraces is pretty much [with] backpacks and huffing and puffing back and forth, but what we're getting from it is pretty amazing.” Ray Sandidge (C.R. Sandidge) is currently making the wines, though there are no immediate plans to release them.

“We want to make the best product that you can put into the market,” Kelly says. “And if it takes a little time to get there, that's what we're doing.”

Meanwhile along with their current vineyard acreage, the Dufenhorsts own 90 additional acres, with plans to build a hotel, spa, and restaurant. The project is currently in the planning stage.

“I think we really have something special here, but it took a lot of work to get it to where it is now,” says Dufenhorst. “But being in business 30 years, anything good that you want to do generally takes a lot of time, a lot of effort.” Collins agrees and notes that, even with the appellation’s approval, there is much more work to be done at Rocky Reach.

“I think there’s a lot of potential for this region for people to come here and plant grapes. But we're still at the very beginning.”

Images by Richard Duval, except image of Rocky Reach cobblestones, copyright Kevin Pogue. Figures from AVA application. Figure 9 - Crystalline basement bedrock in Rocky Reach and northern Columbia Valley. Figure 5 - Southern terminus of Okanagan Lobe of the Cordilleran ice sheet, leading to glacial outwash in the current day Rocky Reach appellation. Washington appellation graphic courtesy of the Washington Wine Commission. 

NB: This post has been updated to correct the minimum elevation of Rocky Reach, 700 feet.