When the Scottish lost the Battle of Culloden to the English, Hugh Mercer was forced to flee from Scotland. It was the beginning of a bright future in the New World. Culloden Vineyard is named after this catalytic moment in Mercer family history.
LOCATION: Alderdale Region (35 miles SW of Prosser, WA)
APPELLATION: Horse Heaven Hills
YEAR PLANTED: 2009
SIZE: 74 acres, 7 blocks
ELEVATION: 680 – 800 ft.
VARIETALS: Cabernet Sauvignon 54%, Merlot 40%, Viognier 6%
SOIL SERIES: Silt loams dominate in Culloden with soils being very deep and well drained with all series being formed in lacustrine sediments with a mantle of loess. Warden Silt Loam and Kennewick Silt Loam make up the two different soils with all soil series exhibiting three different layers of loams and sands combined. Lacustrine deposits are very well sorted, devoid of coarse particles such as coarse sand or gravels, and are characterized by thin layers that reflect annual deposition of sediments. Still water in lakes permits very fine particles (fine sand, silt, and clay) to settle out and to form lacustrine deposits. These deposits get exposed by elevation of old lakebeds. Loess in the Horse Heaven Hills is an aeolian (process of the wind’s ability to shape the surface of the earth) sediment formed by the accumulation of wind-blown dust.
MICRO-CLIMATE: Warm – Long Term Average GDD 3054. Semi-Arid – Annual rainfall averages 6-9 inches, primarily in the winter months
AVERAGE YIELD: 4-5 tons per acre
ASPECT: Predominantly south-west and southern row orientation
UNIQUE ASPECTS: Planted along canyon edges and fingers for good drainage
SPACING: 9’x7’
TRELLIS: Vertical Shoot Positioned modified sprawl with 3 fixed wires
MERCER WINES FROM THIS VINEYARD: Estates Viognier
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