Lopez Island Vineyard & Winery in Lopez Island, San Juan Islands, United States | Wine

Our estate vineyards are located in the Puget Sound Appellation. This is a federally designated grape growing area, characterized by its cool maritime climate. Our six-acre vineyard is contiguous with our winery. The summers are very dry (some years we must irrigate) and are tempered by the cooling influence of the waters, which surround our island. Please see the page on the Puget Sound Climate.
We planted our vineyards in 1987 on sparse soils associated with the Vashon Glaciations which covered our area 10,000 years ago: we are on a moderately deep sandy, gravelly loam soil. This allows for early growth as this soil is well drained. With moderate fertility, our low vigor vines grow an open canopy, allowing the summer sun to penetrate and shine on the developing fruit. This gives our grapes wonderful fruit flavors with a favorable acid balance.
We have selected grapes that are matched to our growing climate. These come from similar regions of northern Europe. These grapes are only grown here in the northwest corner of North America and would not be suited to hotter regions. We feel they have found perfect growing conditions here on Lopez Island. Our vineyards have been grown using organic practices since 1987, and have been certified by Wash. State Dept. of Agriculture since 1989.