Sagemoor Vineyards' wise move pays off handsomely

Sagemoor Vineyards was founded in 1968, when the original property was purchased out of bankruptcy by a group headed by Seattle attorney Alec Bayless. It was 40 years later that I made my first visit to the property, which includes four vineyards owned by separate partnerships, all under the supervision of Managing Director John Vitalich and General Manager Kent Waliser.

The Sagemoor, Bacchus and Dionysus (Dye-o-NIGH-sis) vineyards are located a few miles north of Pasco, overlooking the Columbia River and the Hanford Reach. Bacchus and Dionysus are adjoining properties, and from them a visitor can see as far as the Wahluke Slope, where the fourth vineyard, Weinbau, is located.

The oldest vines, thick as trees and battle-scarred by the decades, date from the original plantings in 1972 and 1973. Still healthy and bearing are about 60 acres of the cabernet, about 20 acres of riesling and 15 acres of sauvignon blanc. The oldest merlot is at Dionysus, planted in 1980.

Waliser took over as GM in 2002. On his first day of work, he was told that the vineyard's biggest client had just given notice that they would be phasing out their contracts. Within three years, Waliser learned, roughly three-fifths of his sales would be gone.

Such news might daunt lesser men, but Waliser took it as a challenge. Working with then vineyard manager Todd Cameron, he began to rethink the whole property. The reason his main client had decided to bail, Waliser concluded, was that grapes at the Sagemoor vineyards were not ripening evenly. The land was not flat, and the soil types and depths varied considerably. A single row of vines might snake down into a gulley and back up a hillside, so some grapes would face south, others north, and others would be in a hole where the cold air could settle.

Cameron set out to "vigor-map" the vines, carefully noting which blocks or sections grew more quickly than others. Drip irrigation was installed — not in place of but in addition to the overhead sprinklers that were already in use. "The whole point was to even up the ripening," Waliser explains.

At the same time, he realized that what a large winery might consider a problem, smaller wineries might perceive as an asset. Sagemoor's varied aspects, drainage and elevation, along with its thriving old vines, were quite appealing to boutique winemakers eager to claim specific rows and blocks as their own.

Waliser and Cameron began dividing up the vineyards into smaller "niche" blocks, and planting new varietals such as viognier, roussanne, barbera and malbec. They made it their mission to give each winemaker the best possible fruit, custom-tailored exactly to his or her specifications.

Sagemoor had always been of interest to winemakers who coveted the old-vine cabernet. Gary Figgins (Leonetti Cellar), Rick Small (Woodward Canyon), Marty Clubb (L'Ecole No 41) and others were long-term customers. But with the new emphasis on quality and designated vines, the floodgates opened.

As Clubb explained to me a year or two ago, "Sagemoor used to be overcropped and overwatered. Now they have turned into a powerhouse of acre-managed, specialty lots. To really create quality takes many passes through the vineyard. It costs more for our fruit, but we have more consistent, better quality fruit as a result."

"I like to think of us as baristas of wine," says Waliser. "How would you like your grapes today?" he chuckles. Such dedication to customer service has quickly (in wine terms) paid off. Sagemoor is now, Waliser believes, selling to more individual wineries than any vineyard in the state — more than 60 at last count. Best of all, his big client has come back, happier than ever.

Among the many Washington wineries relying on Sagemoor fruit as part of their program are Abeja, Arbor Crest, Barnard Griffin, Barrister, Boudreaux, Couvillion, Cullin Hills, DeLille Cellars, Facelli, Forgeron, Isenhower, J. Bookwalter, Januik, L'Ecole No 41, Longshadows, Reininger, Saviah, Soos Creek, SYZYGY, Tamarack, Three Rivers, Walla Walla Vintners and Woodward Canyon.

More and more of them are putting the name of the vineyard right on the label. Being selected for vineyard-designated wines is always a sign of quality, and you will now find Sagemoor, Bacchus and Dionysus designated on dozens of bottles from as many different wineries.

Somewhat confusingly, the name Sagemoor refers to a specific site, but also serves as the umbrella brand for the entire vineyard group. (Ideally, a wine made from the actual site should be labeled Sagemoor Vineyard, while a blend from several sites will read Sagemoor Vineyards.)

Some Sagemoor-based wines to seek out:

Arbor Crest 2006

Sauvignon Blanc; $11

Barrister 2005 Bacchus

Vineyard Syrah; $27

Couvillion 2005 Sagemoor

Vineyard Cabernet

Sauvignon; $27

Facelli 2005 Sagemoor

Vineyard Barbera; $24

Isenhower 2006 Red

Paintbrush; $28

Tamarack Cellars 2005

Sagemoor Vineyard

Reserve Red; $45

Walla Walla Vintners 2005

Sagemoor Vineyard

Cabernet Sauvignon; $40

Paul Gregutt is the author of "Washington Wines and Wineries The Essential Guide." His column appears weekly in the Wine section. He can be reached by e-mail at wine@seattletimes.com.