How Grape Grower Dick Boushey Shaped the Washington Wine Industry
“You never know what you’re going to do in life,” says acclaimed grape grower Dick Boushey. Cultivating vinifera certainly wasn’t Boushey’s original plan; he wanted to escape his farm-centric childhood. But in the Washington wine industry today, no name is more synonymous with vineyards than Boushey; Dick and Luanne Boushey grow fruit or manage vineyards for over 50 clients.
The makeup of the Washington wine industry is a vast network of producers and growers like the Bousheys. But Chateau Ste. Michelle’s announcement last year that it would reduce 40 percent of its fruit purchases over five years laid bare just how delicate this web can be. It also highlights how the Bousheys’ model and philosophy could be the path forward for the industry.
From Farming to Banking and Back Again
Having grown up in a small farming community outside of Seattle, Boushey knew the trials of agriculture and wanted to get as far away from it as possible. But early-career positions in banking didn’t resonate. When Boushey was 24 years old, his uncle, who lived in the Yakima Valley, invited him to move there and manage a new apple orchard.
“It sounded like an adventure, even though I didn’t have a clue about tree fruit,” he says. While learning about apples, which he attributes to the generosity of neighbors and clients, he came across a study of another crop: vinifera grapes, published by Walter Clore, who many consider the father of the Washington wine industry. At this time—the late 1970s— only a handful of wineries existed, but Boushey soon found community among the wine researchers and chemists. In 1977, he planted his own experimental, one-acre block with 10 different varieties.
He notes they were all learning by the seat of their pants. “We treated them like Concord grapes: overwatering, over-fertilizing,” he says. “I like to say we made all the mistakes in the Yakima Valley that the rest of the state benefited from.”
He planted his first commercial vineyard in 1980 with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. “I think I learned more by making mistakes and correcting them,” he says. He also attributes the presence of UC Davis viticultural graduates, brought over by Ste. Michelle, as another factor that accelerated the industry.
Dating his now-wife, Luanne, helped inform his palate. His future father-in-law regularly traveled to Napa and Sonoma and introduced Dick to the thriving industry down there. These wines—close geographically, yet distant stylistically from Washington—gave him context for what was possible for the Pacific Northwest.
Boushey’s passion for research is what really sets him apart from others, and is a key component of his success as a grower. “I needed to understand the science of what we were doing,” he says. With his father-in-law, they invested in winemaking equipment—presses, destemmers, barrels, and the like—to produce wine. Through this, he says he became a better grower. “You just learn the correlation and you can go back and start tweaking things in the vineyard to improve the wine,” he says.
One could consider Boushey a perpetual student; he sits on research committees, is a member of the Washington Wine Commission, and generously shares his knowledge with others at seminars and events.
”He’s on a million different boards helping direct finance, especially for research,” says Jason Gorski, director of winemaking and viticulture at DeLille Cellars. “He’s always been influential in terms of how we think about how we farm, how we spend our research dollars, and how we can improve viticulture in Washington State.”
A Champion of Rhône Varieties
This serial student mentality funnels back into his vineyard. Over the years, his Boushey Vineyard in Yakima Valley has grown to 289 acres. It’s predominately planted with Rhône varieties and James Mantone of Syncline thinks Boushey’s conviction with Rhône grapes shaped the greater viticultural landscape.
“I would say that Dick has influenced a lot of other people to plant Rhône varieties, and shared his experiences with them too,” he says. “I wouldn’t say mentor, but [he’s] definitely an inspirational person.”
Mantone purchases Syrah from Boushey Vineyard and says all the fruit has a certain “Boushey-ness” to them. “There’s a textural aspect to Boushey Syrah that seems to be quite different [from other Syrah],” says Mantone. “There’s a roundness, there’s a plushness. There’s also an umami, savory aspect that’s not just fruit-driven. When you taste those wines, they stand out from other Yakima Valley Syrahs, for sure.”
“Cabernet is king and easy to sell,” says Jeff Lindsay-Thorsen of WT Vintners, who has been buying fruit from the Bousheys for a decade. “But Dick continues to plant more Syrah, Grenache, and explore Rhône whites, whether it’s Picpoul or the more obligatory Marsanne and Roussanne. He’s really committed to seeing the innate quality that those varieties have in his terroirs. He hasn’t taken the easiest path to financial success, but he’s championing varieties that have qualitative potential far beyond just dollars.”
An Expansion to Red Mountain
As his vineyard continued to garner acclaim, other opportunities in Washington State presented themselves. Almost two decades ago, he was approached by wineries that had acquired land on Red Mountain that needed to be planted or managed. Boushey agreed, intending to only stay on for a couple of years.
“Yakima Valley is very different than Red Mountain and [fruit from his site is] very expressive of where it’s planted and how he farms,” says Gorski of DeLille Cellars, one of Boushey’s earliest Red Mountain clients. “So I was a little concerned about how the style would change at our estate vineyard. But Dick is incredibly good about farming the site. He has a plan and a strategy for every place. He lets the terroir, for lack of a better word, speak to him and he tailors his farming to it.”
A Leader in Labor
More requests for his services poured in and Boushey now oversees numerous sites in the Red Mountain AVA. The additional work allowed Boushey to hire a full-time crew of 35 people that work across both his Yakima Valley vineyard and Red Mountain clients. From pruning to shoot thinning to hand-harvesting (yes, he hand-harvests everything), they oversee every aspect of a growing cycle.
“I was able to keep this core group and that really has been a big benefit,” he says. “It’s a whole different environment; they’re much more loyal. They’re the only reason I can do all I do. They know as much as me. They know all the blocks and all the varieties. They’ve done every task, and I don’t need to supervise them.” Ever the teacher, he’s encouraged his crew to take viticulture courses—taught in Spanish—at the local community college and trains them on the Washington State Sustainability Plan.
A Belief in Small Producers
From the onset of his career, Boushey knew he wanted to work with smaller producers. After seeing Chateau Ste. Michelle drop contracts in the 1980s so they could focus on estate vineyards, he didn’t want to be beholden to a single large entity.
“I more follow winemakers than wineries,” says Boushey. “Because good winemakers can just react to every situation and every year they’ll make a good wine.” As an advocate of education, he believes you need the chemistry side, but the ones that truly stand out to him are “very creative,” too.
“I love working with new people too, because they have good ideas—new ideas—and you don’t know who’s going to be the next rockstar,” he says. “I love the energy; I’ve been doing this for a while and you can get a little jaded. [Working with them] reminds me of why I even got into this business.”
“He’s such a champion of the small producers,” says Lindsay-Thorsen. “He could sell his fruit all to Precept or Charles Smith or something like that. But he and Luanne go out of their way to partner with small, up-and-coming producers.”
The Human Touch
When asked the biggest thing they’ve learned from Boushey, one expects to hear from the aforementioned winemakers about a pruning technique, or planting density. But what they spoke about was Boushey’s humanity.
“His level of patience through the intensity of the harvest season is always inspiring,” says Lindsay-Thorsen. “He just does it with grace. We take that back to the cellar and are reminded that it doesn’t have to be so intense or chaotic. It can be a joyful experience.”
Gorski learned from Boushey how paramount good communication is in a working relationship. “People’s considerations change over time,” he says. “I learned from working with Dick that it’s really important to solicit considerations from people: are you short on labor, are you worried about sunburn, all these things.” This collaborative communication approach “is one of those things I try to teach my team,” says Gorski. “When you’re in the field, you’re representing the entire winery, not just the wine-making team. And some farmers, if you go in there and bark at them and tell them what they should do with their own land, they don’t take it well.”
“It’s an absolute pleasure working with him and Luanne,” says Mantone. ”As a winery looking at potential vineyards to work with, it always comes down to three things. “It’s got to be a great site. It has to be a really good grower. And what’s your relationship like with that grower? If any of those aren’t there, it’s just not worth doing. Working with Dick Bouchey, it hits all three of those solidly.” As both growers and producers recalibrate their work and expectations in light of a changing industry, the relationship piece could become the most essential piece of the puzzle. And if Boushey’s success is any indication, it would be the key to Washington’s future and ongoing prosperity.