The Yakima Herald
July 28, 2017

A DUSTY HIGHWAY outside the town of Granger, in the east end of the Yakima Valley, leads to holy ground. With Mount Adams as a cathedral, Red Willow Vineyard is where Washington syrah was born and baptized.

Today, syrah is the third-most-planted red grape in Washington, behind cabernet sauvignon and merlot, and its acreage grows year by year.

How syrah got here is part of Washington wine lore.

In 1983, Red Willow owner Mike Sauer was harvesting his first crop of cabernet sauvignon when he was approached by Peter Dow of Cavatappi Winery in Kirkland. Dow was interested in making nebbiolo, a classic Italian variety. The affable Sauer agreed and planted an acre. When David Lake, winemaker for Columbia Winery in Woodinville, found out, he suggested planting syrah, too. Lake helped Sauer select cuttings from a vineyard in California, and Sauer cultivated them in his nursery for a year before planting in 1986>>>Read entire article on The Yakima Herald