Pollard Vineyard , Located in the upper Yakima Valley of Washington State was planted under the management of Patrick Rawn of Two Mountain Winery.  James A. Stamp, Ph.D. of Sebastopol, California served as a consultant on the project and personally inspected all rootstock before it was shipped to the vineyard.  The combination of this expertise along with the skills of the field crew ensured a high degree of plant health from the onset.

Distinguishing features of the vineyard also include a focus on clonal selection and a denser than average planting.  Pollard vineyard has 2400 plants per acre in contrast to the typical vineyard of 1700 plants.  This experimental planting approach follows the path of the leading fruit orchards in the region that have demonstrated that with cutting-edge techniques one can maximize production on less acreage while maintaining superior fruit quality.  

 

The 10 acre vineyard is planted on a 20-degree southwest facing slope.  A dense planting scheme was employed (6’ rows by 3’ plant spacing, versus the traditional 8’ x 4’ schematic) in order to maximize land use and achieve water efficiency. 

 

The soil is a mix of sandy loam with a subsoil of limestone.  The vines are trained on unilateral cordons.

 

A total of 5 acres is planted to Cabernet Franc, French clones 214 and 327.  Three acres are planted in Merlot, Clones 181 and 348 with the balance of 2 acres planted in Cabernet clones 4 and 191.  Drip irrigation fed from a deep well provides the water to the vineyard.