Saturday, November 8, 2008

Preparing the Ground


The next morning April and I head north through Tri-Cities, then jog east and hit Highway 17 north past Connell and Othello and on up into Moses Lake. We get to the property late in the afternoon. The sun glows off the slope and from the road we can see the geometric rows plowed dark brown on the hillside. Beautiful. We’ll let the ground settle over the winter and be ready to plant by the first of April. We’ll have to get an irrigation system installed and get the plant holes prepared in the early spring. I’ve ordered the plants from Quality Nursery. I told them I’d probably pick up the plants instead of having them shipped. I figure I’ll rent a U-Haul truck for a couple days and use it for cold-storing the vines as we plant them.

Friday, November 7, 2008

A Visit to Walla Walla

I trade emails with a law school classmate in Walla Walla. He has a small vineyard and is in the enology/viticulture program at Walla Walla Community College. He invites me down and I promptly accept. April & I head down early Saturday morning, listening to a David Sedaris audiobook on the iPod. Lots of wineries and vineyards down through Yakima, some expensive fancy touristy destinations and some just plain working vineyards with a small tasting room in a shed next to the apple orchard.

My friend in Walla Walla has ten acres on a knoll east of town, with pretty much a 360º view including the Blue Mountains, vineyards, and the golden rolling Palouse hills. Reminds me of Cayuse. He has 8+ acres planted mainly in Merlot. He practiced law for 20-some years in Seattle. His wife is a physician. Two years ago they sold their house in Seattle and moved to Walla Walla, lock stock & barrel. Now they’re living the life of country gentry, and loving it. Their 10-year old son knows more about the vineyard than his dad.

After a tour of the vineyard, we sit around the fireplace and work through a bottle of Syrah from Cayuse Vineyards, just released that day. The afternoon fog rolls in like San Francisco Bay. We talked about the project, about vines and wines. Very pleasant.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

House Plans

The next week (Halloween) Shawn & Brad start backhoeing while I finish spraypainting the rows. We make pretty good progress. Very few large boulders, which I had been concerned about. Turning the rows, 3’ wide by 3’ deep. This will give the new vines a fast start when we plant in the spring.

Cory, my house designer ( http://www.owihomes.com/ ), meets me at the property. He’s impressed by the view from the lot. I’ve decided on a French Country elevation that will go well with the vineyard. We talk about how to tweak the floor plan to maximize the view.

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Laying Out the Rows


My vineyard book says to prepare the ground by turning the rows with a backhoe. I contact an excavator who has previously done a little work on the project. He meets me out at the property. Figures it’s a 3-day job. Probably cost $3,000. Acceptable.

Meanwhile, I get some stakes and some twine and some white marking paint and start laying out the rows. I decide to space them 10 feet apart, which is a little wider than most. I want to fill up as much space with as little work and expense as possible, and still have it look nice. There is some evidence that temperatures are slightly higher in tighter rows, say 7 feet apart, but I’ll live with that. There is an abundance of dark stone about, which is known to capture and hold heat.

First priority is to make sure the rows are straight. I run them north/south so they’ll capture maximum sunlight. I consider going east/west on the slope to avoid short rows, but I much prefer the symmetrical look of all the rows running the same way.

Selecting Grape Varieties


I spend more hours on the web, researching grape varieties. The nearest nursery with grape rootstock is Quality Nursery in Zillah ( http://www.grapeplants.net/ ). I send an email to David the owner, telling him I’m new to the wine game and would appreciate recommendations for what might do well in the Moses Lake microclimate. He emails me back his inventory list and lets me know he is not in the recommendation business. Maybe I should use a wine consultant, he says. I don’t feel like hiring a consultant. David’s inventory is pretty mainstream. Cabs, Chardonnays, Syrahs, Riesling. For awhile I’m leaning toward Riesling. It does well in cool climates. But I learn it is a late-harvest grape, which brings autumn frosts into play. My number one priority is a vine and grape that will survive and thrive. Don’t bud to early, don’t ripen too late, don’t die if we get a cold winter. (I’m comforted by the thought of global warming. I just hope it gets here soon.) Cameron at White Heron suggests I plant Gewürztraminer, but I don’t know who would want it. Cameron seems a little skeptical of my vineyard. He has a friend down on the lake who is struggling with his plants. Well, someone has to prove it can be done. Might as well be me. I finally settle on mostly Cabernet Franc and some Chardonnay. Hardy plants, don’t ripen too late, and a market for the grapes. Not a lot of Cab Franc being grown, but a lot needed for blending with Cab Sauvignon and Merlot, and beginning to be used as a stand-alone varietal as well. I order from David in Zillah, despite his lack of helpfulness. $1.60 per plant for certified (disease & pest-free?) vines. I consult my vineyard book and my plat map and do the math: 2.5 acres, 10’ spacing between rows, 6’ between plants, etc. It adds up to 1,500 plants.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Soils Test


I dig some soil samples and have them tested by SoilTest, a Moses Lake firm ( http://www.soiltestlab.com/ ). High in potassium. PH looks fine. They recommend adding a little boron and zinc. No big deal.

Friday, October 17, 2008

Ancient Lakes Area Wine Tour


The next weekend April & I do a tour of wineries in the area. We are a couple of weeks late in the season, and our tour takes us to only three stops: Saint Laurent at Malaga up near Wenatchee ( http://www.saintlaurent.net/ ), the venerable White Heron Cellars ( http://www.whiteheronwine.com/ ) overlooking Crescent Bar in Trinidad (exotic names, Malaga and Trinidad), and back to Dry Falls Cellars in Moses (http://www.dryfallscellars.com/) where we spend a pleasant hour with our feet up, sipping wine and visiting with the winery family. The next morning we head south to Othello and then work west along the Frenchman Hills. We come across a couple of vineyards amid the orchards and fields. We note the row spacing and trellis design. It looks like a handful of farmers and orchardists have just kind of decided to plant some grapes on a likely-looking piece of their land, figuring they would learn as they go. Viola! Just like that, they find themselves on Chamber of Commerce winery maps, part of the Columbia Valley “wine trail,” much to the bemusement of the farmers. http://www.columbiariverwine.com/

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Deer Season

On I-90 on the way back I pass a pickup with half a dozen deer lashed to it, each one neatly gutted from throat to anus.

http://www.thenewstribune.com/adventure/story/536214.html

Dry Falls Cellars Winery


I go over on a perfect late fall day. Temperature near 70º. No wind. Big blue sky. I do some weeding in the entry landscaping. It’s the first day of deer hunting season, and my neighbor knocks off early to head north for a couple hours with his buddy and his guns. On the way out of town that afternoon I happen to see a "Wine Tasting" sign for Dry Falls Cellars off Highway 17 in Moses Lake. http://www.dryfallscellars.com/. I wind around through the industrial buildings next to the airport and come across the winery just as another load of grapes is coming in from the Wahluke Slope. I meet Jim & Jonathon, brothers-in-law. I sample a couple of their wines and tell them about my project. They share what information they can, and it seems like the beginning of a friendship. I would like to have someone with some experience to help out. But I realize that if I’m going to get a vineyard started, I’m probably going to have to do it myself.

Friday, October 3, 2008

How to Start a Vineyard


Now, how to get a vineyard started. I go to Borders. Amazingly, they have exactly one book on viticulture. From Vines to Wines, by Jeff Cook (Storey Publishing 1999). It looks helpful and I buy it. What do I need to think about? Varieties. Soil types. Sun exposure. Row spacing and orientation. Trellis & irrigation systems. I surf the web for hours. Everyone has an opinion, many conflicting. I gradually conclude that there aren’t a lot of absolutes in this vineyard business. You just have to get started and figure it out as you go.

Vineyard Irrigation


First I make sure I have water rights. Grapes don’t need much water. But Moses Lake only gets 6 - 8 inches of rain per year, so I’ll need drip irrigation. Growers seem to be continually reducing the amount of water, trying to stress the vines right up to the point of dying before grudgingly granting them a small sip. I figure half an acre foot per acre, if properly applied, could be enough. I check my water certificate. Yep, the space I have in mind, and indeed the whole slope (maybe 12 acres in all), is within the property legally served by my water rights.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Vineyard Concept


Decided to plant a vineyard and build a house. There’s an area of open space above the entry drive that has a nice south/southwest slope to it. A vineyard would add a touch of class and grace to the community, set the tone. I’ll make it an estate by building a nice home on Lot 21 adjacent to the vineyard.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Entry Feature


The entry landscaping is maturing. We recently added some blue oat grass around the monument rock, which softens the effect. Still looks a little bare to me. I’ve been talking to my landscaper about adding some trees and more ground cover.

Friday, September 26, 2008

New Construction



The young couple on Lot 1 are building their new home, a 6,000 square foot country-style home looking out over their farmland.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

A Beautiful Sight


















It really is a beautiful sight to be up on the ridge looking over the farmland below. What a peaceful scene

Monday, September 15, 2008

Farmland Parcel


A young couple purchased Lot 1 and 45 acres of farmland next to it. They planted hay last spring and invested in a new irrigation system. It was a pleasure to watch the various stages of the crop throughout the season, from sparse, bright-green sprouts in spring to full dark-green lushness in the heart of the summer to golden when they turned the water off two weeks before cutting. Here’s a photo of the last of the bales waiting to be picked up in mid-September.