2018 GSM

Stone Tree Vineyard · Wahluke Slope

Winemaker's Comments

34% GRENACHE, 33% SYRAH, 33% MOURVÈDRE

The prestigious Stone Tree Vineyard is a key site for our Columbia Valley red wines. After many years working with this vineyard’s beautiful fruit, we have selected an array of its Rhone varietal wines to bottle as a single-vineyard blend, available exclusively from the winery and to our Club members.

Tasting Notes

Robust aromas of cardamom and orange peel mingle with hints of blackberry, underpinned by a graphite minerality. These characteristics carry forward with expansive dark fruit and pepper notes, finishing with smooth tannins.

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Stone Tree Vineyard

The vineyard name, “Stone Tree,” is derived from the fact that there were a large number of petrified tree fossils found in the surrounding Saddle Mountain hillside.

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The photo, at right, is one of the petrified tree fossils discovered in the surrounding hills. It has been identified as Sequoia, from the Miocene Epoch, 5 to 20-million-years-old.

Located in the Wahluke Slope Appellation, Stone Tree Vineyard was planted in 2000 by Tedd Wildman, one of the most experienced and influential viticulturist in Washington. Tedd is an entomologist by training and always seems to be one step ahead of those of us working with his vineyard. The vineyard name, “Stone Tree”, is derived from the fact that there were a large number of petrified tree fossils found in the surrounding Saddle Mountain hillside.

This 240 acre, south-facing slope vineyard is at the highest elevation of the Wahluke Slope. It ranges from 940 to 1250 feet above sea level, with 200 or more frost-free growing days. The principal soil is a sandy silt loam overlain on a rocky calcium carbonate base similar to some soils in the great vineyards of Bordeaux. With only 6 inches of rain and high heat units, Tedd has focused on Rhone and Bordeaux red varietals. L’Ecole works with multiple clones of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, and Grenache.

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