“Today, I sell more Cab than the next two grapes combined.”īut to make Cabernet the core of his business, Miller said it’s been necessary to invest in the winery’s capacity, as well as equipment, to enable him to harvest all those late grapes in a hurry, clean and sort them, and have a place to put them.Īt least one of those investments is readily visible: 6,000-gallon bulk wine bladders sit on the lawn outside the winery, providing extra tank space for a sudden onslaught of fresh fruit. “I was raised that I couldn’t grow Cab in the Yakima Valley, that it’s too cold here to ripen,” said Marcus Miller, president of Airport Ranch Wine Estates and third-generation winegrower with over 800 acres of wine grapes in Sunnyside, Washington. Growing Cabernet Sauvignon in the Yakima Valley is a gamble: As winemakers wait for the fruit to reach its flavor peak in the fall, season-ending frosts loom. Outside the winery behind him, white flexitanks hold wine Airport uses them to free up tank space if it needs to bring in all the Cabernet in a hurry, to beat a frost, Miller said. Marcus Miller of Airport Ranch Wine Estates in Sunnyside, Washington, stands in a block of Cabernet Sauvignon awaiting harvest, while keeping a close eye on the forecast, in early October.
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