We are in a rather hot spot, on the side of
Snipes Mountain, and we've got an amazing
view that way straight down the valley.
Can you give us a rundown about the geology
of Yakima and how it was formed, and why we
have different rocky soils up here to what
we have down there?
Well, that's a great question and we'll start
by saying right out south west you can see
basalt rocks.
And the basalt rock was the result of massive
outpourings of molten lava 15 million years
ago.
And it all flowed out and solidified into
basalt, and formed a flat plain.
So everything that we see, is after the basalt
came - after that initial flood of basalt.
So, what happened?
Why is it not all basalt?
Well, various things, we had a river that
came through, and it was flat, the incestral
Columbia (river).
The current Columbia river does not go through
here, but the ancestral one did and it laid
down these layers of sand and river gravel
that we see all around us here - at the top
of Snipes Mountain.
Well that begs the question, what's river
gravel doing on top of a hill?
And so between the time the river flowed and
now, there was tectonic activity that lifted,
squeezed and formed this valley.
So you can see in the distance to the south,
that's Horse Heaven Hills, there's a very
vast east running west ridge line.
And we are on an east running west ridge,
Snipes Mountain.
To the north are the Rattlesnake Hills.
And there's an accordian-like series of east
running west hills and we are standing on
one of them.
The gravel was uplifted during this activity
and subsequently wind deposited loess (or
sandy loam) was blown in and filled in the
other soil, dirt and rocks and gravel and
mud washed from the Cascade Mountains down
the Yakima river and formed a flood plain
in the valley floor.
The soils in the valley floor are very deep
and rich, and all kinds of crops are grown
down there, mainly animal crops like hay,
corn, and hops, and these are plants that
are very cold hardy.
They can survive cold winters, in the winter
time the cold air settles.
So we don't plant grapes down the valley floor.
First we want very poor soils so the grapes
have to struggle and produce a small berry
and low vigor grape vines, and it is also
warmer up here on the hill side.
In the winter it is 5 degrees F warmer than
it is on the valley floor, just because of
the elevation.
We have a level of frost protection up here,
we have more heat accumulation in the summer,
and we have better soil for grape vines and
better drainage for the roots.
So everything about this hill is conducive
to very high quality wine grape viticulture
and everything about the lower part of the
valley is great for cropping large quantities
of commodity crops, which need this soil.
So if you want to grow tons of hops or hay,
you do it on the valley floor, if you want
to good quality Syrah right up here on the
hill tops!
Thank you for explaining to us!
