Red Willow Vineyards

In the early days when there weren't so many wineries in this state, Mike Sauer sold Red Willow grapes primarily to Columbia and Master of Wine David Lake. Today, Columbia represents about 35% of their business. But times have changed since the early days. "There are so many small wineries now in different parts of the state," says Mike. "Like Dick Boushey, we're a small, stand-alone grower. His name was made by working with smaller wineries. In 2005, we wanted to start selling to smaller wineries. I called Bob Betz at Betz Family Winery to see if he was interested in buying. He has a set of parameters he uses when working with growers (click here to see our story on Bob Betz), I said fine and he tried some of our grapes. I called him in February 2006 to ask if he wanted to do it again the next year. He said, ‘Mike, it smells like mouse fur.' Not the response I wanted. But by April, he called to make sure I hadn't let the grapes go; they had turned around and worked great. Wine is a living thing and it goes through funky stages, especially good grapes. We have a great relationship with Bob and our grapes have an influence on his wine. His La Cote Patriarche wine is all Red Willow. And his public influence has had an effect on our business."

Jonathan (l) and Mike Sauer (r)

Mike started selling grapes to DeLille Cellars in 2008. Two or three times in the early years with Columbia, David Lake sold grapes off to DeLille. "I said let's not do that anymore," recalls Mike. "Then later, DeLille took off. I called Chris Upchurch, DeLille winemaker, hat in hand. Fortunately, he said yes and bought our grapes again."

Mike also sells to Owen Roe. Their wine labels have an Irish theme and they've been very active in buying our Cabernet Franc grapes. "Four other wineries use our Cabernet Franc for blends," says Mike. "These grapes don't come across as big and overripe. I think Cab Franc is one of the rising stars of Washington wine." Several Oregon wineries buy from Red Willow as well. "If they can make a Pinot Noir, they will do very well making Syrah and Merlot," says Mike.

"It's a lot of fun to grow grapes now," he says. "There are exciting new wineries popping up. It's like picking a racehorse. You want to sell grapes to the wineries that are going to make great wine. We're starting to sell to Mark Ryan, Efeste and William Church Winery in Woodinville. Another one that looks good is Fall Line, owned by husband and wife professors. Their Syrah is from Red Willow. Adams Bench Winery is owned by a top attorney and his wife who is an MD. They're intelligent and have a chemistry background. Nota Bene Cellars in South Seattle is another one to watch. Selling to new wineries is such a kick. It's like going back to the early days with Columbia."

In 1972 when Mike started growing grapes, he had an experimental plot for Dr. Walt Clore with four vines each of 20 varieties. "The only one that continued on from those vines was the Cabernet Franc." At Red Willow, they grow mostly red grapes, but also about an acre and a half of Viognier as well as several acres of Riesling and Guwertztraminer. He also has 90 acres of Concords that go to Welches.

As more grapes are grown and wines made by people new to the industry, some of the old ways change. "Intelligent, self-confident people are becoming part of the industry; they're sharp. It's not like the old farming industry. They don't go out to neighboring farms and wineries, they do their own research. It's a different approach now than it was before. But you still have to be a farmer."

Mike's son, Jonathan, sees the changes as well. "Grapes that went into yesterday's good wines go into today's medium wines. The grapes are getting better all the time."

Yakima Valley is the oldest AVA in Washington, but is being rediscovered as a top quality wine producing region. "Yakima Valley was the beginning of the wine industry with larger wineries like Ste. Michelle, Hogue and Columbia," says Mike. "You grew grapes to those standards with higher tonnage. Then AVAs like Red Mountain, Wahluke and Walla Walla came in. Now at Red Willow, we tend to grow for smaller wineries. We grow the grapes differently and with lower yields. Good winemakers have made us better as growers. There's really been a Yakima Valley resurgence with winemakers looking for Valley characteristics and working with them."

Vineyard chapel, built by former vineyard worker

What varieties are grown changes for several reasons. Chardonnay has been taken out at Red Willow, along with Pinot Noir. "'96 was a cold winter," recalls Mike. "It froze them to the ground, so we took them out. We still have the Nebbiolo that was planted in 1985 as well as Syrah that was started at Red Willow in 1986 and Cabernet Sauvignon that was planted in 1973. With a 35-year-old vineyard, yields are going down. Both Betz and Owen Roe tried grapes from the lower-yield old vines and both loved them. The '07 is in Betz's Pere de Familia."

Red Willow is known for experimenting with varieties. In 1983, Peter Dow who owned Café Juanita at the time, was interested in Barolo. Mike ended up planting Nebbiolo in 1985. David Lake said "Syrah is one of the great red wines of the world" and Mike planted it in 1986. "We were the first in the state to plant Nebbiolo, Cabernet Franc and Syrah," says Mike. "We were also the first to plant Sangiovese in 1991 and Tempranillo in 1993. In the mid 80s, temperatures were colder. We were the ones branching out to warmer-season varietals. Now anything is on the plate." One grape they're "dabbling" in is Aglianico which they think looks promising.

DeLille Cellars vines

Mike and sons Jonathan and Daniel as well as son-in-law Rick Willsey have a generational view in terms of the future. "It takes at least a generation to figure out your earth and learn to work with it. We've planted all our ground, so there won't be more big development, but we hope to continually improve the quality of the grapes we grow. Our family is from this area and wants to respectfully live here and have the right attitude toward the land. It's also about creating good relationships and enjoying what we do."

Connie Adams/August 2009