Winegrape Grower Influential In Establishing Red Mountain Viticultural Area
January 15, 2014 
Following an early career in engineering, Jim Holmes has become one of Eastern Washington’s most successful winegrape growers. (Photo credit: Jim Holmes)
Jim Holmes will never forget what the far eastern end of Washington’s Yakima Valley looked like when he first saw it in the early 1970s. “It was just sagebrush, sand in all directions,” he says. “It looked like eastern Nevada.”
Holmes, a native of northern California and a University of California-Berkeley engineering graduate, had come to Washington in 1959 to work in General Electric’s Nuclear Research Program. He was studying how materials behave inside of nuclear reactors, specifically the Hanford project.
He had a good friend, fellow engineer John Williams, and the pair was looking for a new investment, having taken a beating in the stock market the previous year. “Being engineers, we still thought we were smarter than anyone else,” he says.
Neither had any real farming experience. The only thing they knew about wine is that they had traveled fairly extensively, and they liked to drink it. Still, they decided to push their chips in. At the price of $200 an acre, Holmes bought 80 acres of what is now known as the Red Mountain Viticultural Area, in 1972.
Looking back, Alan Busacca, who has spent decades researching the soils of Washington to explore the terroir as a Washington State University professor, still marvels at the men’s audacity. “No one would have planted winegrapes up there if it wasn’t for Jim — it’s out in the middle of nowhere,” says Busacca, who is now director of Walla Walla Community College’s Center for Enology and Viticulture. “Today, his Ciel du Cheval Vineyard is the source of some of the very best wines in the Northwest, and now it’s really blowing up with this auction.” (See “Red Mountain Auction Draws Keen Interest.”)
Clore’s Influence
But Holmes and Williams weren’t ignorant men. (Incidentally, in 1994 they amicably separated their partnership when Holmes wanted to grow newer varieties. Williams’ family owns Kiona Vineyards Winery, where his son Scott is the winemaker.)
Holmes and Williams had read the reports by Washington State University (WSU)’s Walter Clore, who is often hailed as the father of Washington’s premium wine industry. Clore’s studies were done at the WSU irrigation facility in Prosser, just west of Red Mountain.
“We’re 10 miles away, his soil looks like our soil; let’s bring some power in and grow grapes,” Holmes recalls thinking. “We had no idea what we were going to do with the grapes because there was no industry here.”
Fittingly, it was Clore who Holmes says gave them the best advice. “He told us to think about and learn from what we were doing, not just do what we’re told. Don’t just accept what you hear. Do analysis on your own as you can before you do something stupid.”
Red, Not White
Much of the research back then said they should plant white grapes, Riesling and other good cold climate grapes like Chardonnay. Holmes said they decided to plant Cabernet Sauvignon. “We liked the wine,” he says by way of explanation. “We thought we could sell it to amateur winemakers or something. It was a very immature thing for us to do.”
But they got lucky. It turned out there was a local tractor dealer, Bill Preston, who sold his tractor dealership, built a winery, and needed grapes. The Preston Cellars winemaker was Rob Griffin. “When he tasted the Cab, he said ‘Oh my gosh, this is really good stuff,’” recalls Holmes. “That’s when we really thought red grapes might be the way to go.”
Holmes modestly says if something turns out great, you make up reasons why it’s great. But he does note the Red Mountain soils are very alkaline, with a lot of calcium carbonate, a type of soil that often produces great reds. Also the Red Mountain climate is similar to Calistoga, CA.
The wines — he sells grapes to 25 small wineries — have held up through the years. Holmes keeps track of his scores from the major publications. His Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc average 93, with the other varieties averaging 92.5. “It’s an amazing place,” he says. “We had no idea what we were doing at all. It was serendipity — damn good luck.”
Red Mountain Auction Draws Keen Interest
Demonstrating just how desirable the Red Mountain Viticultural Area has become, a recent auction of 670 of the AVA’s 4,040 acres drew keen interest.
In late November, the Aquilini Investment Group, which owns the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League, purchased all the lots up for sale, which were owned by the Kennewick Irrigation District, for $8.3 million.
The auctioneer, Musser Bros., noted that though the Red Mountain appellation is the smallest appellation in Washington and accounts for less than 2% of the planted vine acreage in the state, Red Mountain wines account for 13% of the top 100 Washington wines.
Grower Jim Holmes, who paid $200 an acre for Red Mountain AVA land in 1972, notes that only 1,400 acres of the AVA is planted with winegrapes. “Water is an issue for the rest of it,” he says. “Native Americans have claims, and the environmentalists want the fish to have it.”
Aquilini, which was begun 50 years ago by Luigi Aquilini, is a privately held company that grows blueberries and cranberries in British Columbia and Washington. It also owns a dairy in the Yakima Valley town of Sunnyside and is involved in raising land-based coho salmon.
“We see this acquisition as a great opportunity to enter the viticulture business in one of the best growing regions in Washington state,” Luigi Aquilini told the website GreatNorthwestWine.com. “We are in the process of determining the best grape varieties to grow in the region with the intention of developing and planting the land as soon as possible.”
Advice For GenNext: Pay Up For Research
If Jim Holmes could give winegrowers who are just starting out one piece of advice, this is it: “Young growers should know that because my background is in research, I work closely with Washington State University on grape research plans. From what I have seen over the years, university research has really changed what we’ve done. It’s had almost an immeasurable impact. We learned we didn’t need nearly as much water. Hey farmers, support research financially. Suppose they could save you just one spray a year of a low-end product, say 20 bucks an acre. That’s a million bucks a year for our industry. Research pays multiple dividends.”
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