Washington’s Red Mountain: 2022 harvest report and 10 wines to try

Vine rows were abuzz with activity on an October morning. Vineyard teams picked perfectly ripe fruit in a late warm spell, almost bemused at their unlikely good fortune. The quality of wine grapes across the state and here on Red Mountain was uniformly superb, and there was no sacrificing quantity as yields were also quite high. Wildfire smoke, of concern on the West Coast these last few years, was not at all a factor.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for 10 Red Mountain wines worth seeking out

‘After a crazy year, we’re just really pleased to get to this point. Because, honestly, we didn’t know,’ says Chris Upchurch of Red Mountain’s Upchurch Vineyards.

Upchurch has made wine from this special part of Washington state for over 30 years. His sentiment on this unpredictable yet seemingly perfect 2022 vintage is one that you’ll hear echoed along the south-facing vineyards of Red Mountain and throughout Washington State.

An unusual beginning

The 2022 vintage did indeed wrap up wonderfully. The warm weather and accompanying sunshine carried vineyard managers and winemakers alike to a finish line that, at times, seemed highly improbable.

Reflecting on the year, Dick Boushey, one of Washington’s iconic wine growers, saw it as another in a series of unusual years. ‘This year continued a string of unusual, demanding vintages. Somehow 2022 was the most bizarre yet.’

‘This was the coolest and wettest spring I can remember. We had late bloom by two to three weeks. There was snow and frost between bud break and bloom. Then it was consistently warm. There were some heat spikes from the end of July onward. And finally, the most fabulous fall I have ever seen.’

Red Mountain is Washington’s warmest wine region, with heat units that allow it to produce consistent ripening and powerful wines year after year. Those conditions made the early climatic challenges presented in spring less an issue than some of the heat that came later.

Managing the heat

‘In general, Red Mountain consistently delivers in lots of heat units and wind. These conditions helped to overcome the late bloom and the growth from spring rains,’ Boushey elaborated. ‘The challenging part, which seems more common, is the extended heat events where we will see 38° plus days for a week.’

‘Fortunately, growers are getting better at anticipating these events and changing canopy management and watering regiments to mitigate these heat waves. We are modifying the predominantly vertical shoot position to better shade the fruit.’

The usually quiet streets of Red Mountain were heavily trafficked this cool October morning as the rising sun framed Candy Mountain to the east. Truck and tractor headlights lit Sunset and Antinori Roads in the last early twilight. The fruit was being hauled into wineries here on the mountain or taken by truck over the mountain pass to Woodinville. There is excitement about the potential of this 2022 vintage, where lower sugar levels meet brilliant phenolic maturity.

‘To me,’ Boushey said, ‘this year created perfect ripening conditions. The flavours were coming in at lower sugars. The weather cools down in October with our classic warm days and cool nights. So we had this extended hang time without a freeze or smoke, which allowed the fruit to develop phenolic ripeness. This was especially important for Red Mountain because of the strong tannins that grapes produce here.’

‘The tannins were able to resolve themselves, and flavours developed fully with good balance and colour. This long, beautiful autumn allowed us to compensate for the late bloom. As one grower said, this was a climate change event that saved our backsides. Though he used a different term.’

See tasting notes and scores for 10 Red Mountain wines worth seeking out

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