Washington State’s Snipes Mountain AVA Is a Story of Evolution and Evolving Wines

Co Dinn, owner and winemaker at Co Dinn Cellars in Sunnyside, Washington, can condense 15 million years of geologic history into a five-minute lesson: 15 million years ago, a hotspot—the same one pulsing beneath Yellowstone National Park—created fissures in the earth. Lava poured across eastern Washington, leaving behind basalt rock and the sprawling, flat Columbia River Basin. Around the same time, tectonic shift, says Dinn, “wrinkled the earth like an accordion.” Upward folds of land diverted the course of the ancestral Columbia River, which once flowed through what’s now Upland Vineyards, where a majority of the grapes grown in the Snipes Mountain AVA are located. The river left behind an alluvial wash of sand, gravel, cobbles, pebbles and clay that today mingles with loess, a windblown sandy soil dragged south two million years ago by glacial floods during the second Ice Age.

In the early 2000s, Professor Joan Davenport, a soil scientist and now professor emeritus at Washington State University, estimated more than 35 different soil types were on Snipes Mountain, a 1,300-foot-high, seven-mile-long ridgetop named for Ben Snipes, a 19th-century rancher known as the “Cattle King.” (Snipes is credited with first referring to the Yakima Valley as “horse heaven”; Horse Heaven Hills AVA is another uplifted AVA here.) Davenport encouraged Todd Newhouse, co-owner and vineyard manager of Upland Vineyards and chair of the Washington State Wine Commission, to pursue AVA designation.

Snipes Mountain and Harrison Hill, both included in the AVA, are key to the origin story of Washington wine. Upland Vineyards was first named by William Bridgman, an attorney and two-time mayor of Sunnyside in the early 1900s whose family grew Concord grapes in Ontario, Canada. Bridgman planted wine grapes on Snipes Mountain and Harrison Hill in 1917, becoming one of the first champions of Washington wine and foreseeing Snipes Mountain’s unique viticultural promise. Due to the mountain’s slope, cold air readily falls to the valley floor while warm air radiates upward, offering protection from late spring frosts. Snipes Mountain’s warm south-facing aspect is suitable for growing Mourvèdre and Cabernet Sauvignon, while its cooler northern slope is ideal for varieties like Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling and Pinot Gris. In 1971, Newhouse’s grandfather purchased the Upland Winery site, which had been sold and renamed in the 1960s. He reinstated the name Bridgman originated, planting Upland Vineyards anew with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Sauvignon Blanc and Chenin Blanc, among other varieties.

Despite this long history of viticulture, Snipes Mountain only gained AVA status in 2009. Once official TTB recognition was on the horizon, Newhouse cultivated relationships with smaller Washington wineries who could showcase Snipes Mountain fruit. Jason Gorski has been the winemaker at DeLille Cellars, which crafts Bordeaux-inspired blends, for 13 years. An annual bottling called Harrison Hill, the first vintage released in 1995, showcases Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc grown on Harrison Hill. “It’s a point of pride for us,” says Gorski, who describes Snipes Mountain wines as “earthier” and showing restraint in the form of floral, savory characteristics rather than big, fruity ones.

Upland Vineyards and DeLille Cellars have been partners for almost 30 years. “So, we’re not making decisions for what’s best for this week,” says Gorski. “We’re building a partnership to last longer than us. From 60-year-old vines, in 2024, we make a wine that will last 20 to 30 years. In the overall history of Washington wine, and our family businesses, these wines are something bigger than us.”

Quick Facts

  • Location: Yakima Valley, Washington
  • Designated: February 20, 2009
  • Total Size: 4,145 acres; 859 acres planted
  • Soils: Sand, silt, gravel, pebbles, cobbles and clay
  • Average Annual Precipitation: Less than 7 inches
  • Most Planted Grapes: Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Chardonnay
  • Climate: Hot, dry, continental
  • Number of Wineries: 0

This article originally appeared in the November 2024 issue of Wine Enthusiast magazine. Like what you see? Get access to the whole issue by subscribing here today.

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