Upland Vineyard & Winery

Unedited

Located at the lower end of the Yakima Valley, the historic Upland Vineyard & Winery is a new winery. We understand that ‘historic’ used in the same sentence with the word ‘new’ is an oxymoron but there’s truth here (in vino veritas). Turns out that the original Upland Winery, developed by the grandfather of Washington’s wine industry, William Bridgman, was crafting unfortified wine (the kind that we drink today) as early as 1934. At the time, Bridgman had under contract a number of grape growers in the Yakima Valley equating to about 165 acres under production. Bridgman’s own vineyard – Harrison Hill – resides in the newly designated Snipes Mountain American Viticulture Area.

Unfortunately a variety of factors contributed to the decline of the winery and by the 1960’s, the Upland Winery ceased operation. Fortunately for us, however, the Newhouse family entered the picture and began a slow reclamation project over the years to restore and expand the vineyard as well as a host of other fruit crops. Eventually, Todd Newhouse re-launched the winery with a slightly different name – Upland Vineyard & Winery paying homage to its historic roots and preserving its rich heritage.

At the time of this writing, the tasting room isn’t open to the public. The target date for the opening is February 2012 and I for one intend to be one of the first visitors. I will tip my glass to the sky, thank William Bridgman for enriching my life and hordes of others, and thank Todd for carrying on the tradition.