About

SteveBecky

Hollywood Hill Vineyards is a small, family run vineyard in the heart of the Woodinville wine country. HHV is situated on Hollywood Hill with 2.5 rolling acres. We have about 1.5 acres of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

We like to say Steve has been “fermenting things for 20 years”. He became an avid beer home-brewer and certified home-brew judge in the early 1990’s. Steve has studied grape-growing extensively for the past two decades and completed coursework in wine making and viticulture at Washington State University and University of California at Davis. He went on to teach viticulture at the South Seattle Northwest Wine Academy for two years. He has lectured extensively and even runs a local grape growing class about once a year.

_MG_4505Looking back, Steve attended his first class on “Grape Growing in the Puget Sound” at Bainbridge Island Winery in 1998. Shortly after attending the class he and a friend, Jeff Jernegan, leased an abandoned 5-acre vineyard on Vashon Island, named it Maury Island Vineyards, and began planting and experimenting with over 20 varieties of grapevines. Steve and Jeff also reclaimed the existing Chardonnay, Muller-Thurgau, Pinot Noir, Siegerrebe, Madeleine Angevine, and Gewurztraminer vines. The first harvest from MIV came in 2000.

Shortly after that we moved to Woodinville, and Hollywood Hill Vineyards became a bonded winery in 2004. “The lease was up on Maury Island and we had two small kids, so we decided to look for a place to grow grapes closer to our day jobs. We had always targeted Hollywood Hill as an ideal growing location and were very fortunate to find our place in Woodinville.” The first Pinot Noir and Chardonnay vines were planted at HHV in early 2004, and the first wines from the Estate Grown grapes were released in April 2008. Unfortunately, the Great Recession did in the wine business and we had to close our tasting room in 2012.

Hollywood Hill Vineyards transitioned back to a vineyard only operation in 2015 and we currently sell grapes to several local wineries. We do not make commercial wine anymore and the tasting room is closed. We are always happy to chat about grape growing in the Puget Sound region so contact us with any questions. Thanks!

 

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