Boushey Vineyard
Encyclopedia
Boushey Vineyard is a grape
-growing estate located in the Yakima Valley AVA
, north of Grandview, Washington
. Grapes grown in the vineyard have been used to produce some of the most critically acclaimed Washington wine
s with the name Boushey regularly being featured on vineyard designated wines. Paul Gregutt
, wine
writer for the Seattle Times and Wine Enthusiast, list Boushey as one the "top ten" vineyards in the entire state. The vineyard is owned and managed by viticulturist Dick Boushey who was honored in 2002 by the Washington State Wine Commission as Washington's "Grower of the Year" and in 2007 by Wine & Spirits
as their "Grower of the Year". After Red Willow Vineyard, which was planted with David Lake
and Mike Sauer, Boushey was one of the first Washington wine growers to plant Syrah. Today, Boushey Vineyard is considered by wine experts such as Jon Bonné
to be "One of the state's top Syrah spots" with many Washington Syrahs made from Boushey's grape receiving critical acclaim.
and apple
grower first planted Boushey Vineyard with Cabernet Sauvignon
and Merlot
in 1980--three years before the Yakima Valley
was recognized as an American Viticultural Area
. Boushey Vineyard was located in a cooler region of the Yakima Valley and the grapes grown here soon earned distinction for the unique terroir
they exhibit that was different from grapes grown in the warmer Red Mountain to the west and Wahluke Slope to the north. At the request of Rhone Ranger winemaker Doug McCrea of McCrea Cellars, Boushey began planting Rhone varietal
s and was one of the earliest Washington vineyards to grow Syrah.
but when part of the Rattlesnake Hills west of his vineyard was proposed as an American Viticultural Area
, Dick Boushey was in opposition to the plan. Boushey argued that the area
did not have distinctive terroir that would merit an AVA stating "I know of no regional style, specific variety or type of wine that is unique to this proposed area. The granting of this proposal would confuse consumers and undermine the existing Yakima Valley Appellation."
Boushey Vineyard is actually composed of 5 locations, all near each other and Dick Boushey's home in Grandview. Across these locations the elevation varies from 800-1400 feet and include a diverse range of vineyard soils. At the highest elevations of Boushey Vineyard, the soils are multi-layered with deposits from the Missoula floods
including loess
and silt
loam
on top of fractured basalt
. The vineyard receives an average of 2600 Growing-degree day a year, putting it on the Winkler scale as a Region II.
Among the grape varieties grown in Boushey Vineyard include Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc
, Petit Verdot
, Syrah, Sangiovese
, Roussanne
, Grenache blanc
, Marsanne and Picpoul. The variety most often associated with Boushey is Syrah.
A few of the wineries who use Boushey grapes (including those who produce vineyard designated wines) include Betz Family Winery, Chinook Wines, Fidelitas Wines, DeLille Cellars
, McCrea Cellars, Chateau Ste Michelle, Three Rivers Winery, Forgeron Cellars, Ross Andrew Winery and Long Shadows. For Long Shadows, Boushey provides Syrah grapes for Australian wine
maker (and former Penfolds Grange
head winemaker) John Duval and Sangiovese for Tuscan winemakers Ambrogio & Giovanni Folonari.
Grape
A grape is a non-climacteric fruit, specifically a berry, that grows on the perennial and deciduous woody vines of the genus Vitis. Grapes can be eaten raw or they can be used for making jam, juice, jelly, vinegar, wine, grape seed extracts, raisins, molasses and grape seed oil. Grapes are also...
-growing estate located in the Yakima Valley AVA
Yakima Valley AVA
The Yakima Valley AVA was the first American Viticultural Area established within Washington State, gaining the recognition in 1983. Part of the larger Columbia Valley AVA, Yakima Valley AVA is home to more than of vineyards, giving the area the largest concentration of wineries and vineyards in...
, north of Grandview, Washington
Grandview, Washington
Grandview is a city in Yakima County, Washington, United States. The population was 8,377 at the 2000 census.-History:Grandview received its name in 1906 due to its view of Mount Rainier and Mount Adams. Grandview was officially incorporated on September 21, 1909...
. Grapes grown in the vineyard have been used to produce some of the most critically acclaimed Washington wine
Washington Wine
Washington wine is wine produced from grape varieties grown in the U.S. state of Washington. Washington ranks second in the United States in the production of wine, behind only California. By 2006, the state had over of vineyards, a harvest of of grapes, and exports going to over 40 countries...
s with the name Boushey regularly being featured on vineyard designated wines. Paul Gregutt
Paul Gregutt
Paul Gregutt is an American wine writer whose focus is the wine of Oregon and Washington. Gregutt publishes a column titled "Wine Adviser" in The Seattle Times, and contributes to publications such as Vineyard & Winery Management, Yakima Herald-Republic, the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin and the...
, wine
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
writer for the Seattle Times and Wine Enthusiast, list Boushey as one the "top ten" vineyards in the entire state. The vineyard is owned and managed by viticulturist Dick Boushey who was honored in 2002 by the Washington State Wine Commission as Washington's "Grower of the Year" and in 2007 by Wine & Spirits
Wine & Spirits
Wine & Spirits is an American wine magazine. With offices in New York and San Francisco, the magazine publishes eight issues annually.In addition to publisher and editor-in-chief Joshua Greene, among the contributors are Tara Q. Thomas, Patrick Comiskey, Patricio Tapia, Peter Liem, with additional...
as their "Grower of the Year". After Red Willow Vineyard, which was planted with David Lake
David Lake
David John Lake is an Indian-born Australian science fiction writer, poet, and literary critic. He moved to Australia in 1967.-Biography:...
and Mike Sauer, Boushey was one of the first Washington wine growers to plant Syrah. Today, Boushey Vineyard is considered by wine experts such as Jon Bonné
Jon Bonné
Jon Bonné is an American wine writer, and columnist for San Francisco Chronicle since 2006. He has previously been a wine columnist for msnbc.com and Seattle Magazine, and has written for publications such as Food & Wine, The New York Times, Wines & Vines and Newsweek...
to be "One of the state's top Syrah spots" with many Washington Syrahs made from Boushey's grape receiving critical acclaim.
Dick Boushey
Dick Boushey, a cherryCherry
The cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus Prunus, and is a fleshy stone fruit. The cherry fruits of commerce are usually obtained from a limited number of species, including especially cultivars of the wild cherry, Prunus avium....
and apple
Apple
The apple is the pomaceous fruit of the apple tree, species Malus domestica in the rose family . It is one of the most widely cultivated tree fruits, and the most widely known of the many members of genus Malus that are used by humans. Apple grow on small, deciduous trees that blossom in the spring...
grower first planted Boushey Vineyard with Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Canada's Okanagan Valley to Lebanon's Beqaa Valley...
and Merlot
Merlot
Merlot is a darkly blue-coloured wine grape, that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name Merlot is thought to derive from the Old French word for young blackbird, merlot, a diminutive of merle, the blackbird , probably from the color of the grape. Merlot-based wines...
in 1980--three years before the Yakima Valley
Yakima Valley
Yakima Valley may refer to:*Yakima River Valley in southeastern Washington*Yakima Valley AVA...
was recognized as an American Viticultural Area
American Viticultural Area
An American Viticultural Area is a designated wine grape-growing region in the United States distinguishable by geographic features, with boundaries defined by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau , United States Department of the Treasury....
. Boushey Vineyard was located in a cooler region of the Yakima Valley and the grapes grown here soon earned distinction for the unique terroir
Terroir
Terroir comes from the word terre "land". It was originally a French term in wine, coffee and tea used to denote the special characteristics that the geography, geology and climate of a certain place bestowed upon particular varieties...
they exhibit that was different from grapes grown in the warmer Red Mountain to the west and Wahluke Slope to the north. At the request of Rhone Ranger winemaker Doug McCrea of McCrea Cellars, Boushey began planting Rhone varietal
Varietal
"Varietal" describes wines made primarily from a single named grape variety, and which typically displays the name of that variety on the wine label. Examples of grape varieties commonly used in varietal wines are Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Merlot...
s and was one of the earliest Washington vineyards to grow Syrah.
Opposition to the Rattlesnake Hills AVA
Boushey Vineyard is located among the Rattlesnake HillsRattlesnake Hills
The Rattlesnake Hills is a 16 mile long anticline mountain ridge in Yakima County and Benton County in the U.S. state of Washington. Also known as Rattlesnake Mountain and Rattlesnake Ridge, it should not be confused with the much smaller Rattlesnake Ridge located near the west end of Ahtanum Ridge...
but when part of the Rattlesnake Hills west of his vineyard was proposed as an American Viticultural Area
American Viticultural Area
An American Viticultural Area is a designated wine grape-growing region in the United States distinguishable by geographic features, with boundaries defined by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau , United States Department of the Treasury....
, Dick Boushey was in opposition to the plan. Boushey argued that the area
Rattlesnake Hills AVA
The Rattlesnake Hills AVA is an American Viticultural Area located in Yakima County, Washington. United States Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau awarded Rattlesnake Hills its appellation status on March 20, 2006, making Rattlesnake Hills Washington’s ninth federally recognized American...
did not have distinctive terroir that would merit an AVA stating "I know of no regional style, specific variety or type of wine that is unique to this proposed area. The granting of this proposal would confuse consumers and undermine the existing Yakima Valley Appellation."
Vineyard and grape varieties
Missoula Floods
The Missoula Floods refer to the cataclysmic floods that swept periodically across eastern Washington and down the Columbia River Gorge at the end of the last ice age. The glacial flood events have been researched since the 1920s...
including loess
Loess
Loess is an aeolian sediment formed by the accumulation of wind-blown silt, typically in the 20–50 micrometre size range, twenty percent or less clay and the balance equal parts sand and silt that are loosely cemented by calcium carbonate...
and silt
Silt
Silt is granular material of a size somewhere between sand and clay whose mineral origin is quartz and feldspar. Silt may occur as a soil or as suspended sediment in a surface water body...
loam
Loam
Loam is soil composed of sand, silt, and clay in relatively even concentration . Loam soils generally contain more nutrients and humus than sandy soils, have better infiltration and drainage than silty soils, and are easier to till than clay soils...
on top of fractured basalt
Basalt
Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...
. The vineyard receives an average of 2600 Growing-degree day a year, putting it on the Winkler scale as a Region II.
Among the grape varieties grown in Boushey Vineyard include Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc
Cabernet Franc
Cabernet Franc is one of the major black grape varieties worldwide. It is principally grown for blending with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in the Bordeaux style, but can also be vinified alone - as in the Loire's Chinon...
, Petit Verdot
Petit verdot
Petit Verdot is a variety of red wine grape, principally used in classic Bordeaux blends. It ripens much later than the other varieties in Bordeaux, often too late, so it fell out of favour in its home region. When it does ripen, it is added in small amounts to add tannin, colour and flavour to the...
, Syrah, Sangiovese
Sangiovese
Sangiovese is a red Italian wine grape variety whose name derives from the Latin sanguis Jovis, "the blood of Jove"...
, Roussanne
Roussanne
Roussanne is a white wine grape grown originally in the Rhône wine region in France, where it is often blended with Marsanne. It is the only other white variety, besides Marsanne, allowed in the northern Rhône appellations of Crozes-Hermitage AOC, Hermitage AOC and Saint-Joseph AOC...
, Grenache blanc
Grenache Blanc
Grenache blanc is a variety of white wine grape that is related to the red grape Grenache. It is mostly found in Rhône wine blends and in northeast Spain. Its wines are characterized by high alcohol and low acidity, with citrus and or herbaceous notes. Its vigor can lead to overproduction and...
, Marsanne and Picpoul. The variety most often associated with Boushey is Syrah.
Wineries
Boushey Vineyard grows some of the most highly sought-after grapes in Washington. Dick Boushey works closely with the winemakers who use his grapes, willing to accommodate them on viticultural issues such irrigation, canopy management, vine training and thinning, selling only to a core group of winemakers who produces wines that match the style produced by his vineyard.A few of the wineries who use Boushey grapes (including those who produce vineyard designated wines) include Betz Family Winery, Chinook Wines, Fidelitas Wines, DeLille Cellars
Delille Cellars
DeLille Cellars is a winery near Woodinville, Washington, USA. It specializes in wines using the Bordeaux grape varietals: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot. In 2000, DeLille won the New York Times's Wine Today.com "Winery of the Year" award. It is one of Washington...
, McCrea Cellars, Chateau Ste Michelle, Three Rivers Winery, Forgeron Cellars, Ross Andrew Winery and Long Shadows. For Long Shadows, Boushey provides Syrah grapes for Australian wine
Australian wine
The Australian Wine Industry is the fourth largest exporter of wine around the world, with 760 million litres a year to a large international export market and contributes $5.5 billion per annum to the nation's economy...
maker (and former Penfolds Grange
Penfolds Grange
Penfolds Grange is an Australian wine, made predominantly from the Shiraz grape and usually a small percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon. It is widely considered Australia's "first growth" and its most collectable wine...
head winemaker) John Duval and Sangiovese for Tuscan winemakers Ambrogio & Giovanni Folonari.