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DirtOur vineyards are absolutely the key to our success. Nothing is more important. Good thing we're in some of the best vineyards in Washington, if not the galaxy.  Klipsun, Red Mountainwww.klipsun.com When we first walked into this vineyard we just felt different. The notion struck that if Klipsun were a rock and roll band it would undoubtedly be Led Zeppelin. The wines we produce from these grapes bear that idea out: deep, complex, soul-stirring elixirs that perhaps come more from alchemy than winemaking. The potential of these wines is the greatest of any in our cellar. Our relationship with Patricia and David Gelles is an added bonus of sourcing fruit from their vineyard. Suffice it to say that there is always plenty of laughter to go around. Hedges Family Estate, Red Mountainwww.hedgesfamilyestate.com August 8, 2004, Red Mountain. I was standing in his driveway with a good size knot in my stomach, when Tom Hedges shook my hand and said, “You’re in, kid.” I asked about a contract and he said we had just made one. The old fashioned kind, palm to palm. We are fortunate to be in their vineyards, both the North Block where we source merlot and Bel’ Villa, the source of some of our finest syrah. All kinds of memories come from thinking about our friends the Hedges. There was the 1981 Jaboulet La Chapelle Hermitage we shared on their patio at the chateau...oolala.Kiona, Red Mountainwww.kionawine.com/ourstory.html
“We’d researched it and knew there was water about some 500 feet deep. We were at 550 feet and close to the end of our cash, and we hadn’t hit water yet, and the well driller asked us how far we wanted to go. We asked, how much money have we got left? We drilled about five more feet and hit the water.”- John Williams We have Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot from Kiona, including a small amount of the 1975 Cabernet Sauvignon. Spectacular! Ciel du Cheval, Red Mountain
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As far as John Williams and Jim Holmes were concerned, the plan was perfect. It was an 84-acre swatch of desolate sagebrush and cheatgrass nestled between Red Mountain and the Yakima River. They did their research, of course, and as far as they could tell, the area was perfect for growing grapes. It had south-facing slopes, incredible hezel silt loam soil, and temperate sunny weather conditions. It didn’t matter that they had to bring electricity in from 3 miles away or dig a well on their own dime. They were going to plant a vineyard, and it was going to be good. 
The man, the myth, the legend. Must be more than one Dick Boushey. How else to explain how he does so much, so well? We are stoked to have been granted a little bit of syrah from the extra special Birdhouse Block at the top of his Yakima Valley vineyard in Grandview, all of which goes into our Darkness syrah. All lush and deep and hedonistic. We learn so much from Dick every time we visit it makes the head hurt. We look forward to all that is to come from the dirty hands of the inimitable Mr. Boushey. Red Mountain anyone?
In 1968, Thomas A. Alberg, Sr. of Seattle, Wash. purchased 245 acres of land now known as Stillwater Creek Vineyard in the Frenchman Hills of the Columbia Valley near Royal City, Washington. Though Mr. Alberg and his family long suspected the land would make an excellent vineyard, it wasn’t until the family gathered historical data from the property in the late 1990s that the site’s suitability to wine grapes was confirmed. In 2000, the Albergs began planting a wide selection of premium vinifera grapes with the intent of developing a vineyard known for its unique selection of clones. 
In 1997 Butch and Jerry Milbrandt planted their first grapevines in Eastern Washington’s 
Temperance Hill Vineyard is a 100 acre vineyard made up of roughly 20 different blocks of wine grapes. The site itself is 200 acres (lots of room to grow) in the west Eola Hills, just west of Salem, Oregon. It has an elev ation range of 660 to 860 feet making it a cool, late site; excellent growing conditions for Pinot Noir. The soils are predominantly Nekia, Rittner and Jory. The site is thought to be the remnants of an ancient volcano and grapes are planted on many different slopes with varying exposures.