Monday, Sep. 01, 2003

Ripening to maturity: Yakima Valley turns 20

By Bob Woehler

As Washington’s Yakima Valley begins its third decade as the Northwest’s oldest federally recognized grape-growing region, it is being energized by growth it hasn’t seen since its origins in the mid-’80s.

The Yakima Valley, which stretches from Wapato in the west to Benton City in the east, became the Northwest’s first American Viticultural Area, or appellation, in 1983. At the time, the valley had just a handful of wineries. The viticultural designation means that grapes grown in the valley are deemed distinct, and it gave the region the same recognition as California’s Napa Valley, which was approved two years earlier.

Grape growing and winemaking in the Yakima Valley stretch back before Prohibition, with the first known grapes planted in the late 1860s, 20 years before Washington became a state. William B. Bridgman arrived in Sunnyside in 1902 and began planting wine grapes a dozen years later, according to The Wine Project, a history of the Washington wine industry written by Ron Irvine. While Prohibition bottled up the wine industry, Bridgman continued to plant and grow grapes, and he opened Upland Winery in Sunnyside in 1934, about a year after Repeal. He sold his interest in the winery in 1951 but continued to be an industry leader and pioneer in the Yakima Valley. He died at age 90 in 1968.

In 1934, Dr. Walter Clore arrived in Prosser. The son of a Methodist teetotaler, Clore was convinced the region could support classic European wine grapes, and he began planting them as early as 1941. He was a tireless promoter of the industry until his death this year at age 91.

In 1972, Mike Wallace moved from the Seattle area to Prosser, and he and his father, Jerry, cleared out sagebrush and planted wine grapes. He opened Hinzerling Winery in 1976, and today it is the oldest winery in the Yakima Valley. In 1983, Time magazine featured him in an article called “Washington’s Bright New Wine.”

In 1979, Mike Hogue planted wine grapes near Grandview and opened Hogue Cellars in 1983, the same time the Yakima Valley AVA was approved by the federal government.

“We needed to make our area distinct to prove to the market that we had high-quality grapes to make great wines,” Hogue said.

Hogue and his brother, Gary, built the winery into one of the state’s largest, then two years ago sold it to Vincor International. As an executive and grape grower, Mike Hogue continues to play a role in Hogue Cellars’ success.

“There is a close bond between wineries and grape growers to put the region’s best foot forward when making and marketing wine,” Hogue said. “The same is true for the other wine-growing regions of the state. That is not always the case in some of the other wine-growing regions of the country.”

Vincor plans to double Hogue Cellars’ production to 1 million cases per year by 2007.

Many of the wineries that established themselves in the 1970s and ’80s continue to shape the valley, and now a number of new wineries are injecting the region with a renewed sense of enthusiasm.

-- Near Benton City, Chandler Reach Vineyards is owned and operated by Len Parris, who has built a Tuscan-style tasting room atop a manmade cave. His wines are made by Ray Sandidge, the winemaker for Kestrel Vintners and C.R. Sandidge Wines in Prosser.

-- Up Interstate 82 in Prosser, Snoqualmie Vineyards has a new home in a former grape juice plant. The Stimson Lane-owned winery has bounced around the state since its inception in 1984, most recently at Columbia Crest in Paterson. Plans are to grow its production to 350,000 cases. Joy Andersen crafts the winery’s high-quality and inexpensive offerings.

-- Maison de Padgett Winery near Zillah is a bit hard to describe. Owner David Padgett purchased Horizon’s Edge Winery about three years ago, and now has launched Maison de Padgett. The winery is one of the most beautiful in the valley with a huge garden for weddings. And Padgett enjoys the whimsical with funky labels and wines called Singing Toad and End of the Road. Inside the bottles are well-made wines.

-- Piety Flat Winery is inside the Donald Mercantile, a fruit stand just off Interstate 82 near Wapato. The store has long been a favorite stop for fresh fruit, homemade peach sundaes and old-fashioned cream sodas. Now, it offers tasty wines crafted by David Minnick of Willow Crest Winery in Prosser.

With the Yakima Valley’s foundation solidly based in its history and its future bright with more than 40 wineries, the region looks forward to its next two decades and beyond.

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