WINE DINE & TRAVEL MAGAZINE SUMMER FALL 2015 HD.pdf
This issue features Washington State wines, from Seattle to Walla. Join Ron and Mary James on a tasty adventure in northwest wine country.
This issue features Washington State wines, from Seattle to Walla. Join Ron and Mary James on a tasty adventure in northwest wine country.
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Red Mountain’s not much of a mountain<br />
in the pantheon of mountains<br />
(1,410 feet) or for that matter very red,<br />
but it is a real mountain that has all the<br />
makings for some of the best wines on<br />
the planet – mostly cabernet sauvignon,<br />
merlot, syrah, cabernet franc, malbec,<br />
and petit verdot. The red in Red Mountain<br />
comes from the cheat grass that<br />
turns red in the spring. Washington<br />
State AVAs (American Viticulture Area)<br />
can be somewhat confusing. The Red<br />
Mountain AVA lies within the Yakima<br />
Valley AVA, which is part of the Columbia<br />
Valley AVA.<br />
Red Mountain’s most prominent pioneers<br />
are Jim Holmes and John Williams,<br />
wine hobbyists who were influenced<br />
by the early wine grape research<br />
conducted by Dr. Walter Clore at Washington<br />
State University agricultural station<br />
in Prosser. In 1975 they planted<br />
their first vines in Red Mountain and<br />
called their vineyard Kiona. Not long after,<br />
they planted a vineyard they called<br />
Ciel du Cheval. In 1980, they launched<br />
a winery in Williams’ basement (where<br />
the tasting room remained until a new<br />
winery was built in 2007).<br />
Red Mountain may not be much to look<br />
at to the casual visitor, but for the wine<br />
maker the 4,040 acres of vineyards on its<br />
slopes offers all the essential elements to<br />
make beautiful wines. So beautiful that<br />
32 Wine Dine & Travel Summer/Fall <strong>2015</strong>
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