The vineyard is named after the Palouse Indian village of the Tasawiks which was located by the shores of the Snake below our vineyard site. It is owned and operated by Erik Dahle and Sara Broetje. Erik grew up in Bergen, Norway and came over to the US to finish his studies at PLU in International Business and Finance/Economics in 1992. Sara grew up in Eastern Washington, and also went to PLU getting her business degree. After several years of working in the Seattle area, the opportunity of planting a vineyard in Eastern Washington opened up.
Our vineyard is located in Walla Walla County on a south-west slope above the Snake River. The location is close by Fishhook Park about 18 miles north-east of where the Snake merges with the Columbia River. The vineyard was planted in 2003, and is about 7.5 acres in size. We are committed to growing a limited crop of premium grapes on our vineyard; currently Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sangiovese, Viognier, and Syrah. This site on the bluffs overlooking the Snake River has a unique terroir and produces wonderful fruit. It is a south-west facing vineyard with a 9% slope. It is a warm and dry site with very good air flow at about 800 feet elevation. The soil is a silt-loam mixed with fractured basalt rocks throughout. It is a combination of wind deposited dirt and deposits from the cataclysmic floods from Glacial Lake Missoula 15,000 years ago. The water came down where the Snake River is today, and huge water masses also spilled up the Snake, making water and deposits swirl onto the bench where the vineyard sits, about 350 feet above the river.
