Anyone that knows me is aware that I have a soft spot for Chenin Blanc in Washington. Chenin Blanc vineyards are some of the oldest in the State (our Chenin Blanc vineyards are 35 years old on average) and have exceptional depth. One of my favorite site is in the middle of the Yakima on a small south facing hill called Hahn Hill. The vineyard is 37 years old at sits at about 900 feet of elevation (picture above). Hahn Hill represents about 50% of our Chenin Blend every year. The vines are trained with the old fashion fan system (see picture below) where several “arms come out of the same plant. This training is a nice for quality grapes though quite labor intensive because the fruit zone is distributed a bit randomly (versus the Vertical Shoot positionning system where the fruit is nicely lined up on the cordon). Vineyard looks great this year. Should be a very nice Chenin year.
