Willow Crest Winery

Willow Crest Winery

Willow Crest Winery was founded in 1995 by David J. Minick, a longtime grape grower in the Yakima Valley. The Minick Family first planted wine grapes on their Roza farm, North of Prosser in 1982. David wanted to take the love he had for raising grapes to next level by making premium wine out of a small portion of the family vineyard.

Focusing on Pinot Gris/Grigio and Syrah Willow Crest Winery uses estate grown fruit that winemaker David J. Minick planted, cultivated, and harvested to create crisp Pinot Gris and bold Syrah’s. By having the control from vine to wine David can monitor crop load, canopy size, sun exposure, and the balance of fruit and sugar at harvest time. All this attention to the grape comes out in Willow Crest wines.

Willow Crest Winery started out small and has grown to 3,000 cases in 2001 and 5,000 in 2004, producing Pinot Gris, Syrah, Mourvedre, Cabernet Franc, Syrah Port, and assorted late harvests and sparkling wines. In Washington State we were one of the first wineries to do Pinot Gris as a varietal, the first to do Syrah Port, Syrah Sparkling, and Mourvedre. At Willow Crest Winery we want to be unique thus we create special wines. Our winery is located at the vineyard 6 miles north of Prosser at 1,300 ft. elevation, overlooking the Yakima Valley with a surrounding view of wine grapes. The tasting room is in an old farm house with hardwood floors and cove ceilings situated on the highest corner of the farm so you look out over the vineyards. Winemaking takes place a new cellar where state of the art equipment is combined with age old techniques to create Willow Crest wines.

Willow Crest Harvester
reproduced with permission

From the winery:

The Minick family has been growing wine grapes since 1982. We know firsthand the importance of growing quality grapes in order to create great wines. A great wine starts in the vineyard!

Elevation / Slope
The Willow Crest Estate Vineyard is at a 1300’ elevation in the most premium wine grape growing country of the Yakima Valley. At this elevation and with the slope of our vineyards we have a sure advantage when the cold winter days hit. A temperature difference of up to 15 degrees is not uncommon. The winter of 2003 hit some record lows in the Yakima Valley with some areas reporting -17 Fahrenheit. Lots of winter injury caused some vineyards to be pruned back to the ground. Fortunately because of elevation and sufficient air drainage the temperatures at the Willow Crest Vineyard only got as low as -3 Fahrenheit.

Soil & Irrigation

Willow Crest Vineyards are part of the Roza Irrigation district at the most northern area of Prosser. Our soils consist of silt loam and fractured basalt rock. Water is a very valuable resource, which is why most of our vineyards are irrigated by a drip system that applies just the right amount of water to each vine. Drip systems only use 30% of the water as opposed to overhead sprinklers. Throughout the growing season, we control the vigor of the vine by how much water we apply. During part of the hot summer months the vine gets very little water, in that way we control the growth of the canopy and let the vine concentrate on producing quality grapes. This technique is called Deficit Irrigation.

Willow Crest Grapes
reproduced with permission

Climate

Willow Crest Vineyards has the perfect climate to grow wine grapes. The hot summer days and cool nights ensure our grapes have a perfect sugar and acid balance. Did you know that we have an average of 17.4 hours of summer sunlight in Eastern Washington? That is about 2 hours more per day than California’s prime grape growing region. Our unique terroir (soils and climate) set Willow Crest apart and contribute greatly to the producuction of high quality wines.

Varietals

Willow Crest planted the first wine grapes in 1982: Riesling, Gewurztraminer and, Chardonnay. In 1993 we planted Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. In 1996 we added our first Syrah planting, Cabernet Franc, Pinot Gris and our 2nd planting of Chardonnay. In 1999 we planted more Syrah and Pinot Gris, Merlot and a new Rhone varietal, at least to the Yakima Valley, called Mourvedre. In 2001 we planted a new clone of Cabernet Sauvignon. In 2002 Viognier, Grenache and, another family member of Mourvedre. Willow Crest Vineyards has grown to over 185 acres of wine grapes. The majority of our grapes are contracted out to premier wineries around Washington State.

Yield per acre

Our average yield for Reds is 3 tons per acre and for Whites 4 to 6 tons per acre , depending on the varietal. The yield per acre depends on what kind of wine the winemaker wants to craft. Varietal characteristics, fruity flavors, complexity, sugar content, acidity and soil all contribute to the style of wine to be made.

Our Syrah vines are planted in only 12-18” of soil with fractured basalt rock below, which gives a distinctive expression in our Estate Syrah. Since 1995 Willow Crest Winery has been making our own handcrafted wines. Wilow Crest Winery is in a very unique situation were we control the entire wine making process from growing the grapes to applying the label to the bottle.

The Winemaker, Dave Minick

After growing grapes for other winemakers in the Yakima Valley for more than a decade, David Minick realized a long-time dream of producing his own wine with the opening of Willow Crest Winery in 1995. Minick oversees the family vineyard estate, with 185 acres of grapes, most of which are sold to other winemakers. But Minick now retains a small amount of his annual harvest to craft nearly 3,000 cases of premium wines at his state-of-the-art winery facility, set in a prime section of the vineyard, over looking the Yakima Valley.

Willow Crest Winemaker, Dave Minick
reproduced with permission

Focusing on Pinot Gris and Syrah, David uses estate grown fruit that he personally plants, cultivates, and harvests to produce Willow Crest's premium wines. By having control from "vine to wine," he can monitor crop load, canopy size, sun exposure, as well as the balance of fruit and sugar at harvest time.

This copious attention to the grapes results in exceptionally bold Syrah and crisp Pinot Gris wines that have caught the attention of international wine judges and critics. Says David with understandable pride, "Our last three vintages of Syrah have all won medals - several golds for the 1999 and 2000 vintages, and a Best of Show in each vintage." David also produces Mourvedre, Cabernet Franc, Syrah Port, and assorted late harvest and sparkling wines.

A LOT of wine for the price. 2002 is fuller, bigger than the 01, still a bargain. Big blended red flavors, a blend of Cab Franc, Syrah, and Pinot gris. Delicious quaffer. All estate fruit. BEST BUY!
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Here's a Pinot gris that out performs many $15 offerings. A richly flavored, intensely fruity wine, a rich scent of candied lemons and pears opens to flavors of Bosc pear, Granny Smith apples, and cr
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Gold Medal Award at December 03 Tri-Cities Wine Festival, this Syrah seems to win lots of awards every year, and the value is tremendous. The grapes, grown by the winery, are "deficit irrigated" to in
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A blend of Ports made in 2000 and 2001, smooth, massively flavored. Really good deal.
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Sweet muscat that tastes like fresh grapes just off the vine. 3% residual sugar. Unusual.
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Super Tuscan style wine, made from 84% Sangiovese, 16% Cabernet Sauvignon.
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Floral nose, fruity and floral flavors.
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