Founded in the early 1970s on a family farm established in the 1920s, Red Willow Vineyard is one of Washington’s most historically important vineyard sites and a cornerstone of the Yakima Valley. Its collaboration with WSU viticulturist Dr. Walter Clore and Columbia Winery winemaker David Lake helped pioneer numerous varieties in the state, most notably Washington’s first commercial Syrah planting in 1986. The Sauer family continues that legacy through a deeply stewardship-driven approach taking a long-term, regenerative approach to vineyard stewardship, with a particular emphasis on building healthy, biologically active soils. They incorporate compost every three to five years, use biological applications and mycorrhizal fungi in new plantings, and employ cover crops and green mulches to support soil health. Herbicides such as glyphosate and other soil-active herbicides have been eliminated in favor of mechanical cultivation and mowing, while native areas and flowering plants are maintained to encourage beneficial insects and biodiversity. All wine grapes are hand harvested. The result is a site where history, thoughtful farming, and distinctive hillside terroir remain inseparable.

WeatherEye Vineyard is one of Washington’s most distinctive and ambitious viticultural sites, climbing from roughly 950 to more than 1,400 feet and extending across both south- and north-facing slopes. Much of the vineyard sits above the ancient Missoula flood line, where thin windblown soils overlay fractured basalt and vines are exposed to persistent wind, intense sun, and dramatic diurnal shifts. Under the direction of renowned vineyard manager Ryan Johnson, WeatherEye’s farming is guided by an obsessive attention to this unique site. Rather than farming the property uniformly, WeatherEye is divided into dozens of micro-blocks, with varieties, planting density, clone, row orientation and training systems, including traditional Rhône-inspired head training and échalas, are matched to each block’s soil, slope, wind and exposure. Native vegetation is deliberately retained in portions of the vineyard to encourage biodiversity, while targeted irrigation and the site’s dry, windy climate allow for relatively low-input farming.  This highly attentive, low-intervention approach embraces the site’s extremes rather than moderating them, producing naturally low yields and fruit distinguished by concentration, freshness, structure, and a profound expression of place.

Originally planted in the late 1990s and formerly known as Stone Valley Vineyard, San Tommaso is one of the pioneering sites of The Rocks District of Milton-Freewater with its distinctive basalt-cobblestone soils. Farming is necessarily attentive because the rocky surface, heat retention and low water-holding capacity create a demanding environment in which irrigation and careful vine balance are essential. The vineyard is LIVE and Salmon-Safe certified, with vines rooted in the district’s distinctive basalt cobbles and gravels, carefully irrigated, and hand-harvested at low yields. An exacting approach that preserves vine balance and the unmistakably savory, mineral-driven character of The Rocks.