The Innovators: Red Mountain’s Jim Holmes

Jim Holmes was working as a nuclear engineer in 1975, when he planted the Ciel du Cheval vineyard on Washington State’s Red Mountain. In the just over 40 years since, he’s built Ciel du Cheval into a storied source of grapes for some of the state’s finest wineries, including Quilceda Creek, DeLille and Fidelitas.

In other words, Jim is a big deal in the world of wine, both in and outside of Washington State. If you need more proof, consider this: He recently was named one of the most admired growers in North America by Vineyard & Winery Management magazine. I had the chance to chat with Jim recently, and I asked about his path to becoming a legendary grape farmer.

Q: How did you go from being a nuclear engineer at the Hanford reactor site in eastern Washington to growing grapes for some of the best wineries in the state?

A: When I was working at Hanford, I was able to travel quite a bit and I started collecting wines. Then a friend (another nuclear engineer at Hanford, John Williams) and I purchased 80 acres on Red Mountain as an investment. A month later, I heard about Dr. Clore’s research. (Dr. Walter Clore, known as the “Father of Washington Wine,” determined that premium wine grapes would thrive in certain areas of Washington State, including Red Mountain.) So we decided to plant Cabernet Sauvignon. At the time, we were ignorant savages because we didn’t know what we didn’t know. But over time, we transitioned to a more scientific approach and we gained critical experience.

Q: What were some of the key challenges at that time?

A: There was nothing out there. It was just sagebrush, rabbits, cougars and snakes. No roads, no electricity and no water. When we realized the need to irrigate, we had to get power in. So we dug underground power lines ourselves and built the well. We didn’t know what we were doing, so everything was a great surprise and a great adventure. Mysteries abounded and solutions were elusive.

Q: What were your goals for the vineyard?

A: Our original hope was that the wines would be adequate enough for someone to buy them and that maybe, in the future, the vineyard might provide jobs for our kids. Our biggest surprise was that when we picked our first crop of Cabernet, we took it to a local winemaker who told us it was pretty good. We went from hoping for adequate to being deemed pretty good. It was great.

Q: Tell me a little about Ciel du Cheval today. How big is it and what’s planted there?

A: Today the vineyard is 103 acres. It’s 40 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 20 percent Merlot and a variety of other grapes, including Cabernet Franc, Petite Verdot, Syrah and Sangiovese.

Q: How many wineries do you sell to? Are they all in Washington?

A: We sell to about 25 wineries, which keeps the pot boiling. Most are in Washington, but there are a handful of Oregon wineries, including Seven Hills and Andrew Rich.

Q: What are some common taste profiles from the grapes grown at Ciel du Cheval?

A: People always say that our grapes have a dusty quality to them. And we tend to get good fruit flavors and moderate tannins with respect to other Red Mountain grapes.

Q: Do winemakers lease specific areas or do they simply buy grapes from the whole of the vineyard? And how much input do they provide on your growing practices?

A: They don’t lease areas in the vineyard per se, but every customer has a set of rows with their name on it. The winemakers will target tons per acre and we will plant accordingly. That is really the only prescription they provide.

Q: Who decides when to harvest?

A: The winemakers do. We will provide chemistry and data to be used for guidance, but it is up to them. Some like to pick less-ripe grapes in order to have brighter, fresher flavors, and some want the complete opposite. So, we spread our harvest times out. Sometimes we will be harvesting the same variety in the same block over two or three weeks. That is the artistic touch that the winemakers bring.

Q: What about caring for the vineyard keeps you up at night?

A: Mother Nature. Farming is risky, and while we spend time considering what might happen, it depends on the curve of the ball that is being thrown. Most of the things that could happen can be managed, depending on when we know about them. Typically, the biggest concerns are excessive heat and excessive cold. In the case of heat, we orient the rows so that the clusters are shaded. In the case of cold, we try to protect the grapes with fans that move the cold air away from the grapes. We can spend the whole night in the vineyard huddling around our instrumentation in order to keep a pulse on what’s happening.

Q: Any closing thoughts on what you have learned from farming grapes?

A: Don’t believe anything unless you test it yourself. People need to find the answers to their own mysteries by themselves, versus being told what others think.

Ponder that over a glass of wine made from Ciel du Cheval grapes. Some of my favorites are 2012 Tamarack Cellars Syrah from Ciel du Cheval Vineyards ($40) and 2012 Fidelitas Ciel du Cheval Cabernet Sauvignon ($65).  Now raise a toast to Jim Holmes and all of the other ignorant savages. May we all be so successful in our journeys!