The Klickitat Canyon Winery In Lyle, WA. Is An Ecologically Balanced Vineyard

Robin Dobson is growing an ecologically balanced crop of grapes for his winery in Washington, on the edge of the Columbia Gorge. He chose the area he did for the myriad of micro climates available for a variety of grapes. Miraculously, water is only needed for the first three years after which the grapes fend for themselves.

The winds, common to the Gorge, tend to keep the plants dormant. When the winds taper off in the evenings, the grapes come alive and it is during these times the plants grow. He has made a point of keeping native flora and fauna between the rows. I'm actually quite curious if the grasses slow the growth cycles of the grapes, and possibly act as fine tuning aspects to flavor. Also Robin mentions modest yields of a ton per acre. Knowing the Dobsons' intense command of plant biology, I'm looking forward to possibly having some of my questions answered as to the ameliorating aspects of such a natural ecosystem.
Robin was one of my neighborhood friends when our families lived overseas during my high school years. The Dobsons lived across the street from us in one of the very desirable older Swiss buildings in the town of La Capite on the outskirts of Geneva. My Father provided a basketball hoop and backboard in our driveway, which turned out to be a meeting place for us in the neighborhood. Robin mentions drinking the squashed grapes in the link at the beginning of this post. I remember it well! I also remember that one time I let the sediment settle overnight and was shocked at the amount of "fiber" (twigs, leaves etc.)