Ryan Johnson of WeatherEye Vineyard & MTN/ART Wines
Ryan Johnson grew up making mischief with his art supplies. He excelled in art at school, and ended up majoring in it while at community college. Although he eventually shifted to a pre-med track with the goal of becoming an eye doctor, he has always turned to art as a form of self-expression. Just before enrolling in his pre-med classes in anatomy and physiology, a phone call changed his life. The caller was Jim Holmes, owner of Ciel du Cheval Vineyard on Red Mountain. He invited Ryan for a tour of the vineyard, and after driving around, he stopped his truck and asked Ryan to be his vineyard manager. That was the start of Ryan’s career on Red Mountain, which now spans roughly 25 years and multiple premier vineyards. The most recent is WeatherEye Vineyard, which some have called the most ambitious vineyard in the United States.
The idea for WeatherEye began in 2004 when Cameron Myhrvold started purchasing land on top of Red Mountain where no one thought grapes could grow. In 2015, he hired Ryan to make the vineyard a reality with the mission of growing the best grapes in the world. The vineyard is so unique that some say it is changing the way we grow grapes and make wine in WA state. Ryan and his wife Rebecca also have a wine project called MTN/ART Wines, in which Ryan is the grape grower and label artist, and friends of theirs make the wines. The project was prompted by Rebecca’s autoimmune disease which prevented her from drinking wines with high percentages of alcohol. MTN/ART wines from WeatherEye are low in alcohol, but rich in flavor and complexity. In this interview we discuss the many unique aspects of WeatherEye Vineyard, the current and soon to be released MTN/ART Wines, and how Ryan’s art background has helped him to design one of the most creative, bold and aesthetically pleasing vineyards in the state.
Listen to the Interview: