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.

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.

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.

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.