The Vineyards • St. Clare Vineyard
ST. Clare Vineyards (formally Bradenview Vineyards) is a small 12 acre vineyard owned and operated by David and Kristen Leal. It is located six miles south of the City of Walla Walla on Braden Road in the Walla Walla Valley appellation (about 1.5 miles east of Pepper Bridge Vineyards). The elevation of the vineyard is at 900 feet msl. Fort Walla Walla Cellars currently contracts for 6 tons each of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon wine grapes from this vineyard. We work closely with the Leal’s on the irrigation, grape cropping and optimum harvest time for our grapes. The vineyard is slightly elevated above the valley floor with grape rows orientated in a north/south 5 ft. by 9 ft grid. This allows any cold air to naturally drain away from the grapevines, thus avoiding excessive problems with frost during the growing season. The low organic content and optimal drainage of the predominant Spofford silt loess soils in the vineyard make it relatively easy to control vigor and grape yield with modern viticulture techniques and a state of the art drip irrigation system. The growing season in most years at St. Clare vineyards exceeds 3000 (50°F) degree days and yields fully ripe fruit with excellent tannins. The relative dryness of the vineyard (less than 13 inches annual precipitation) with low humidity (mean humidity during July is 50.3% at an average temperature of 69.5 °F), further concentrates fruit flavors through evaporation. The grapevines are stressed and closely monitored for the proper water application. The maturing wine grapes are also cropped (grape clusters are thinned for enhanced color and taste) in late July and mid August to yield approximately 2.8 to 3.2 tons of fruit per acre. These techniques contribute to the fruit intensity and concentration of complex grape flavors that are necessary to produce Fort Walla Walla Cellar’s ultra premium wines.