Hollywood Hill Vineyards

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Steve and Becky Snyder are out to show that the cool marine air of the Puget Sound is a great place to grow certain varieties of wine grapes. In fact, their Hollywood Hill Vineyards is the only vineyard in Woodinville and more than an ornamental vineyard, the fruit from their labor is producing around 200 cases per year. Adherents of sustainable practices, the vines (70% pinot noir clones 667, 777 and Pommard; 30% chardonnay) receive only small doses of sulfur as needed.

While they do use their own grapes for some production, the majority of fruit comes from the Columbia Valley from vineyards such as Gilbert Vineyards (certified organic) and Portteus Vineyards. They make wines true to their palate with a decided bias toward Rhône-style wines using varieties such as viognier, roussanne (which an anonymous source once said is really a syrah dressed in drag), Grenache, mourvèdre and syrah. Moreover, true to a French-style wine, they rely on 70% neutral oak with lower alcohol levels. For example, their 2009 Estate Grown Pinot Noir checks in at a tame 12.5% alcohol by volume.

Look for more Puget Sound AVA varieties bottled by Hollywood Hill Vineyards given Steve’s passion for cool climate grapes. His active role with the Puget Sound Wine Growers Association provides a rich breeding ground for experimenting with a large number of grape varieties that thrive in cool climates. Varieties abound including Zweigelt, St. Laurent, Dornfelder, Regent, Auxerrois, pinot gris, pinot blanc and pinot meunier. The Puget Sound viticulture area is huge spanning from the Canadian border to Olympia with growing days averaging 210 days per year and rainfall averaging 15 to 60 inches. Consequently, there are many locations ideal for grape growing as WSU researches have demonstrated for several decades.

Who knows, maybe in a few years Steve will produce the only sparkling wine using the three grapes used by northern France’s champagne region – pinot noir, pinot meunier and chardonnay.