30 Years of DuBrul Vineyard

It's incredible to think about now, but the beginnings of DuBrul Vineyard are not far removed from the beginnings of the modern Washington Wine Industry. 

In 1976, Walter Clore published his ambitious Wine Project, a study called "Ten Years of Grape Variety Responses and Wine-making Trials in Central Washington." This was proof that high-quality premium wines could be made from Eastern Washington vineyards. Three years later, just 16 wineries were producing a total of 1 million gallons of wine. This changed quickly - in 1990, 7 million gallons of wine were produced by 92 wineries. 

Hugh and Kathy planted DuBrul Vineyard in 1992, amid this atmosphere of a nascent industry in explosive growth. When they purchased the property, there were some grapes already in production, along with a struggling apple orchard. Our Riesling vines from the early 1980s are some of the oldest in the state.

The first few decades were spent in close partnership with WSU participating in research to learn how to optimize the unique conditions in DuBrul, as well as the Yakima Valley and Eastern Washington in general. Early studies on irrigation looked at changing from overhead sprinklers to drip irrigation. This in turn allowed efforts to fine-tune water usage. 

Decades of work have helped us be leaders in sustainability and resource management in addition to leaders in wine quality. Our commitment to research and discovery continues. In addition to irrigation, we've studied canopy management, crop loads, pest management, weather profiling, and mitigation from wildfires near and far.

This spirit of discovery and commitment to quality led to the founding of Côte Bonneville in 2001 to showcase this spectacular site with classic traditional age-worthy styles of wine. We still only vinify about a quarter of the grapes ourselves, but this small production allows us to maintain the attention to detail that both DuBrul Vineyard and Côte Bonneville are known for.