The Writer's Workshop

Ryan Johnson with the steep, rocky Grand Reve Vineyard in the background.

The most exciting new vineyard in Washington could easily be mistaken for a rock quarry. Perched on the side of Red Mountain–perhaps the premier site for red wine grapes in the state–Grand Rêve (big dream in French) slants down a steep, rocky, wind-blasted slope, looking more like a rock garden than a vineyard. Littered with shattered volcanic boulders, cactus and tumbleweeds, the vineyard has proven very difficult to establish, but likely will yield some of the some of the richest syrah, mourvedre and Grenache in the state.
Despite the unusual appearance, Grand Rêve resembles the best terroir in the world. It looks like a combination of Chateauneuf du Pape and the northern Rhone, the rocky cobbles of Chateauneuf tilted on their side, recalling the extraordinary vineyards of Hermitage and Côte Rôtie, home of Guigal, Chapoutier, some of the biggest names in French wine-making.
Co-owner Ryan Johnson gave me a tour of Grand Rêve in September when I came over to pick up merlot grapes from Ciel du Cheval for our Les Copains Winery. As much as I enjoy writing about travel, food and wine, there’s nothing like participating in the process to bring home the romance and frenetic intensity of the crush. It’s this kind of first-hand research that yields the freshest, most detailed stories, a point I make in my writing classes, and one which came back to me again as we climbed over the basaltic rocks and cobbles of the vineyard.
“It’s hard to farm but very promising,” said Johnson, who is also the vineyard manager of Ciel du Cheval Vineyard, one of the premier sites on Red Mountain. He co-owns Grand Rêve with Paul McBride and knows the soils of Red Mountain like few others, having grown grapes there for 10 vintages while also managing Cadence Cara Mia, Galitzine Estate, and DeLille Grand Ciel vineyards, a who’s who of Washington winemaking. He is most excited about his improbable new vineyard.
“We can raise the bar for Red Mountain and Washington State,” he said confidently, citing the unique character of Grand Rêve. The 13-acre vineyard contains 34 parcels, with nine different soil types. Before he started planting, Johnson dug 57 soil pits, trying to figure out exactly what to plant, seeking to match varietals and clones to the individual lots. What he found astonished him: layers of volcanic ash in one parcel, silt over limestone in another, volcanic rocks mixed with silt in yet another—a dizzying variety of terroirs, likely to produce an incredible variety of grapes—if he could only cultivate it.
“It was a lot of work,” said Johnson, of one parcel nick-named El Terror. “The plants were put in with a pick axe and crowbar,”
Walking through the vineyard is more like a rock scramble than a walk, but it’s exactly the kind of ground I visited in May at famed Vieux Telegraphe in Chateauneuf du Pape, where I will return next spring to teach my annual Travel, Food and Wine Writing Class (www.thewritersworkshop.net/travel.htm ). Such rocky soils yield the tastiest syrah, mourvedre, and Grenache.
Grand Rêve will produce its first fruit next year, with wine to follow shortly, but you can get a hint of what’s in store with the Grand Rêve “Collaboration Series” wines available in limited quantities via mailing list, and through a select number of Puget Sound retailers and restaurants. The Grand Rêve tasting room is located at 12514 130th Lane NE in Kirkland, Washington. (susan@grandrevevintners.com, 425-549-0123).
This collaboration series contains fruit for some of the best sites on Red Mountain, and will whet the appetite for the wild, vertical world of Grand Rêve. Several years ago, Johnson tasted a McCrea Cellars pure Grenache and was blown away by it, inspiring him to make a similar 100-percent varietal from the highest, rockiest parcel on the site.
“It’s a quest,” he admitted as we got back to his pick up. “It’s my Holy Grail.”
The Big Dream is becoming a reality.