Upland Vineyards

The Upland Vineyard is located in the Snipes Mountain sub-AVA of the Yakima Valley near the city of Sunnyside. It is owned by the Newhouse family and it has of some of the oldest vines in the state. Our relationship with the Newhouse family dates back to 1978 when Wade was the grape buyer for Ste. Michelle. The soils of this vineyard are very unusual in that they were originally deposited by the Columbia River when it flowed through the Valley millions of years ago. These alluvial soils were subsequently uplifted by tectonic faulting and elevated to their current location on Snipes Mountain. We source Cabernet Sauvignon from two blocks in this vineyard. The first block is located at the east end of Snipes Mountain and is designated an ‘Old Vine’ block as it was planted in 1973. Located on a steep south facing slope, this block is low yielding and produces wines of complex aromas and refined tannins. Since this small block is in high demand, we only receive fruit off four rows that produce about three barrels of wine per year. This wine is released as Upland Vineyard Old Vine Cabernet Sauvignon. The second block is about four miles west of the old vines and is located on a steep southwest facing slope. This block was planted in the late 1980’s. The wines from this block are much more powerful than the ‘Old Vine’ block, with dark color, intense aroma and great structure and are the base wines for our Bordeaux blend,the ‘Geologist’.