The Dirt on Red Mountain

Old vine Cabernet Sauvignon in Red Mountain's Ciel du Cheval date to the 1970s

Richard Holmes

Richard Holmes of Eastern Washington's Ciel du Cheval vineyards says the land is all garbage.

He sure knows how to get the attention of a group of wine geeks!

Yes, I am a wine geek, and I love all things about fermented grape juice, from dirt to bottle. The soil, the rocks, the vines, the different clones, the trellising systems, the picking, the crushing, the aging, the wine makers -- these things fascinate me so much that, well, I write a wine blog.

Holmes, a second-generation Red Mountain man, is the son of Jim Holmes, who partnered in the mid 1970s with John Williams of Kiona Vineyards in Eastern Washington State to establish some of the first vines in the then untested viticultural area now known as Red Mountain AVA (see more about Kiona in my last posting). Holmes the Younger knows all the dirt about the dirt, and he basically says that everything between western Montana and the Pacific Ocean is garbage.

But it's great garbage for grape growing, it turns out.

"The soil within the Red Mountain AVA distinguishes it," says Holmes, who was tour guide for the Wine Blogger's Conference 2018 excursion to Red Mountain AVA.

Missoula Floods 

Red Mountain soils are good for grape growing

At the end of the last ice age, roughly 15,000 years ago, cataclysmic flooding from Missoula, Montana, sent water and ice roaring down what is now the Columbia Basin in Washington and the Willamette Valley in Oregon. These Missoula Floods created a buildup of bedrock and soil, with volcanic eruptions from the Cascade Mountains adding layers of ash (the 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helens added even more). The Red Mountain ridge stopped the water, forcing it to flowed around it, churning up that earth and creating the crazy mix of soils that exist there today. There's lots of decomposed rock and calcium carbonate, which is bad for growing anything but grapes.

Back in 1975, Holmes the Elder and a few others had a hunch that this tough, barren, sage-filled desert land had the potential to grow quality wine grapes. The soil had the right pH for grapes, it had great drainage created from the ancient flooding which would allow vines to develop deep roots, and the rainfall was low -- just 5-9 inches annually -- which would allow for controlled irrigation.

An additional benefit of Washington soils is that it's low in clay, which, Homes believes, is why there has been so little phylloxera in the state. Most of Washington's vines are on their own rootstock. But the pest called nematodes can be a problem.

Ciel Du Cheval Vineyards

Ciel du Cheval's barn sits amidst the vines

In 1994, the older Jim Holmes amicably split from his partner at Kiona to run his own vineyards next door at Ciel Du Cheval. This pioneer of the Red Mountain AVA built his vineyard to the point where it now supplies 127 wineries with grapes, ranging from Cabernet Sauvignon, to Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Sangiovese, and Petit Verdot. 

Holme's son Jim left a desk job in Seattle to go to the University of California Davis to learn the wine business and he now manages the vineyard and has opened a tasting room in downtown Walla Walla to sell the estate wine label, called Cotes de Ciel. 

The vineyard is managed by Dick Boushey, who hails from apple farming, which is prevalent in this neck of the woods. Dick was our tour guide as we traveled through the 260-acre vineyard on a Red Mountain Trails horse-drawn wagon.

This is the best tour of a vineyard I've ever experienced, as it allowed us wine geeks to get up close to thousands of vines growing all different grapes for many different wineries, using various trellising and pruning systems. Boushey took great pleasure in pointing out the differences among rows, as some producers prune, trim and cut back their vines in a pristine fashion, while others prefer the 'au natural' method.

Dick Boushey manages 260 acres of vines

It was harvest season during our tour, which makes the incredible hospitality we received even more amazing, but it also sparked conversation about managing a vineyard with the current labor shortage among vineyard workers. Boushey was quite vocal on the subject, and proudly boasted that his workforce is all women, whom he pays $30 to $50 per hour (gulp!). Grapes are much lighter than apples to haul, so women gravitated toward the vineyards, he says. And, as most of his customers want their grapes handpicked, he believes that the women workforce handles the grapes better as they are more detail oriented. Needless to say, I liked this guy! About one third of the vineyard's workforce has been with them for three years. (For an interesting read on this, see Karen McNeil's recent article.)

In addition to the many vintners he grows for, he also provides grapes for Welch's grape juice, and they pay much more for the grapes (approximately 35%).

The Ciel du Cheval vineyards are not organic, which Boushey says costs approximately 35% more in terms of production. He views organic as a philosophy, not a viticultural approach. However, Hedges Family Estates, which sits right next to Ciel du Cheval, has a strong biodynamic, organic leaning, and is currently transitioning all its vines. Makes you wonder how long they can coexist peacefully.

Experimentation Continues

Red Mountain, and specifically Ciel du Cheval, are not resting on their laurels. Both Holmes and Boushey made it very clear that they will continue to rip out older blocks and replace them with new, different vines and clones. As an example, for Cab Franc, they have planted three different clones, which on their own don't shine, but blended together provide what they are looking for in a Red Mountain Cab Franc. They also have four different Syrah clones, one from Beaucastel in the Rhone.

"After 43 years here, we are just beginning to learn," says Holmes.

Cotes de Cheval

Cotes du Cheval Cab Franc is a winner!

The estate wines of Ciel de Cheval, called Cotes de Ciel, are available to taste at their downtown Walla Walla tasting room.

Holmes wines are big, bold reds mostly, with one exception (at least when I tasted there), Roussanne. "On tap" were Holmes' Merlot, Petit Verdot, Red Blend, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Counoise, to name a few. I especially liked the Cabernet Franc and brought some home with me.

The tasting room is shared with Gino Cuneo Cellars, which is solely dedicated to classic Italian varieties, like Nebbiolo and Barbera. Cuneo also makes Ripasso and Rosato.

Red Mountain flavors and quality shone through in both wineries' wines.

The best way to see Red Mountain AVA is through Red Mountain Trails tour. To learn more about them visit www.redmountaintrails.com.

Related reading: Karen McNeil's "How Latina Women are Saving California Wine."


Until next time, Cheers!

Another AVA Checked Off My List: Red Mountain, Washington

Map of Washington State's AVAs in lobby of Lodge at Columbia Point, Richland, Washington

In early October 2018 I attended the annual Wine Blogger's Conference (WBC18), held in Walla Walla, Washington, hosted by Visit Walla Walla. In my last blog I talked about stepping foot into a California AVA that I had never been in, Edna Valley. After this latest wine adventure, I can now check off a few more AVAs from my wine bucket (should I say "barrel"?) list: Walla Walla, Red Mountain, Columbia Gorge, and Columbia Valley, in Washington and Oregon.

Every year I take advantage of the WBC pre-excusion, which affords me the opportunity to dive deep into a specific AVA, region, or winery for a couple days. This year I chose the Red Mountain AVA trip, as I was of the belief from working in wine retail that this was the one to know.

First of all, Red Mountain is neither a mountain nor red. The elevation is just over 1400 feet at its peak, and the drooping broom grass that once covered the hills -- and which turns bright red at one point in the year -- has been largely replaced with vines. Back before vineyards were planted, we were told that the region was a sea of brown with islands of green, but since vine plantings began in the mid 1970s, the better characterization is that the AVA is a sea of green with islands of brown. Most of Eastern Washington is basically a desert, with hot dry summers and cold winters, often with snow. Red Mountain comprises approximately 4,400 acres of land, of which 2,600 are planted to grapes (see the red dot on the map above). AVA status was reached in 2001. By any standards, this is a small AVA.

Day 1 of this excursion took us to Kiona Vineyards, from which many producers in Washington source their grapes. Here's a better look at this iconic Red Mountain producer.

Kiona Wines

The aptly named Kiona vineyards (named 2018 Washington Winery of the Year by Winepress Northwest), translates to "brown dirt" in the local Indian language. JJ Williams, grandson of founder John Williams, was our affable host at the gorgeous, modern winery overlooking the vines. The Williams family owns 100% of their land, their grapes, and their wines; there are no outside investors, it's all theirs. This is refreshing in an ever-diminishing wine world where big names own just about everything.

Kiona's modern, state-of-the-art facility overlooks its estate vineyards as well as Saddle and Rattlesnake Mountains

The Kiona vineyards were first planted in 1975, by John Williams (JJ's grandfather) and his partner Jim Holmes, both former GE engineers. They planted 10 acres of Chardonnay, Riesling, and Cabernet Sauvignon, in equal amounts. Back in the mid-70s, says Williams, Red Mountain was considered a white wine region, contrary to what we know it as today. Williams and Holmes planted two sticks in each hole in the hopes that at least one would survive, but Williams' grandfather fully expected about half the vines to live, and half to die, as this region can get very, very cold during the winter months. The diurnal temperature shift -- that is, the swing from daytime high to nighttime low -- is 40 degrees. Such a dramatic shift is good for grape ripening, allowing sugars to build up during the warm hours, and acid retention to occur in the cool hours. The partners went on to plant Lemberger, Chenin Blanc, and Merlot.

Kiona's first grapes were crushed in 1978, from Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, revealing the richness, depth of color, and intensity that would go on to become the hallmarks of Red Mountain reds. These "diamonds in the rough" sealed the deal for Kiona; they knew their sweet spot was Bordeaux-style red wines, but they also saw promise over the years with other red varieties, particularly Syrah. However, the vast majority of Kiona's plantings, nearly 68%, is Cabernet Sauvignon.

Holmes and Williams dissolved their partnership amicably in 1994, and the Holmes family now owns outright the acclaimed Ciel du Cheval vineyards adjacent to Kiona, which will be discussed in an upcoming posting.

Current red offerings from Kiona include their Red Mountain Reserve (a blend), RM Cabernet Sauvignon, Estate RM Merlot, RM Syrah and Estate RM Sangiovese and, interestingly, Estate RM Lemberger, the spicy dark red Austian grape known as Blaufrankisch, which is also grown in New York's Finger Lakes region.

Whites are also on Kiona's menu, using grapes from the much larger and less defined Columbia Valley AVA (see blue area in map above) and the winery's current offerings include Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay, and Riesling, including a late-harvest version. Additional varieties grown, in small quantities, include Petit Verdot, Gewurtraminer, Carmenere, Petite Sirah, Mourvedre, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Zinfandel, Viognier, and Roussanne.

Kiona has three Red Mountain estate vineyards  -- Kiona Estate, Ranch at the End of the Road, and Heart of the Hill -- totaling about 240 acres, plus two additional Columbia Valley AVA vineards, Vista and Nine Canyon, just over 87 acres together. They sell their highly-prized grapes to over 50 producers in the area. If you get a bottle of Red Mountain wine from any producer, take a look at the label to see if the grapes come from Kiona.

View from Kiona's winery patio of Rattlesnake and Saddle "mountains"

Other characteristics of Kiona vineyards, and Red Mountain AVA, our tour guide pointed out to us are what he called its five pillars, which are:

1. Slope -- gentle and southwest facing
2. Dryness -- only 5.8 inches of rain per year, with winter and early spring the wettest. This allows Kiona to control how much water the grapes are getting, a good thing in vineyard management.
3. Wind -- they come up the valley in the morning, and down the valley in the evening. This helps thicken grape skins and reduce vine disease.
4. Dirt -- basic, with good drainage (more on dirt in a future posting)
5. Heat units -- being so far north, they get 16-17 hours of sunlight during the growing season.

Tasting Red Mountain

JJ Williams took us bloggers though an interesting exercise, comparing four Red Mountain Kiona vineyard wines (none were Kiona's, which was a disappointment for me) with four old world wines (well, one was actually from Napa) to show us how Red Mountain wines are world class and can hold their own in a blind tasting.

Red Mountain in the World -- Kiona-grown wines fared extremely well against Napa and Old World standards.

Kiona's label: bold reds from Estate vineyards

All of the wines, which included Hedges Red Mountain 2015 (100% Syrah), Col Solare 2015 (100% Cabernet Sauvignon), Fidelitas 2015 (100% Cabernet Sauvignon), and Hightower 2014 (80% Cabernet, 10% each of Malbec and Merlot), were sampled blindly against, respectively, Chateau de Pez from St. Estephe in Bordeaux, Brancaia Supertuscan from Italy, Chappellet Cabernet from Napa Valley, and Hickenbothem Trueman Cabernet from McClaren Vale, Australia. The wines held their own and proved themselves to be worth exploring.

If you like big, bold reds, that are dark, stout, and powerful, with lovely ripe fruit and balancing acidity -- a hallmark of Red Mountain grapes -- then give these beauties a try.

Red Mountain's Future

The early days of the 1970s were an exploratory time in Red Mountain, a characteristic that is still true today, as different varieties and different clones are constantly being tested. One senses that Red Mountain's full character will be more decided in about 40 to 50 years. It is, after all, still in its childhood years!

Additionally, there is no more space left for new plantings. What we saw on this trip is what visitors 20-30 years from now will see -- it's planted out. So this means vines will be ripped up to make way for new varieties, new clones, new experiments.

Thus far, Cabernet Sauvinon, Merlot, and Syrah seem to be king here. And no doubt in my mind, they are world-class.

Until next time, Cheers!