Pacific Northwest Flashcards
What are the minimum % requirements to label Oregon wines by varietal or by AVA?
90% varietal, 95% AVA
What is the climate of Willamette Valley?
Continental but with maritime influences seeping through gaps in the Coast Range
What are the major natural features of the Willamette Valley?
The Willamette River is a tributary of the Columbia River - The valley is between the Cascade Range and the Oregon Coast Range
What are 5 major producers of Willamette Valley?
Ken Wright (Yamhill), Eyrie Vineyards (Dundee), Beaux Frères (Ribbon), Soter (Yamhill), Lingua Franca (Eola), Adelsheim (Chehalem), Bergstrom (Chehalem), Brittan (McMinville)
What are the newest AVA’s of Willamette Valley?
Lower Long Tom - 2021;
Laurelwood District and Tualatin Hills - 2020
What was the wine that put Willamette Valley pinot on the map?
Gault-Millau Wine Olympiades - Eyrie vineyards ‘South Block’ 1975 (3rd place finish in Paris ’79, 2nd place finish in Beaune ’80 - besting grand crus assembled by Robert Drouhin)
Which sub AVA of Willamette Valley is the first to harvest, due to having the warmest temperatures and usually the highest potential alcohols?
Yamhill-Carlton - hemmed in by the Coast Range, Chehalem Mountains, and Dundee Hills
Which AVAs of Willamette Valley are most associated with the following soil series’ : Jory, Laurelwood, Nekia, Willakenzie
Dundee Hills;
Chehalem Mountains - northern flanks;
Eola-Amity Hills;
Yamhill-Carlton & Ribbon Ridge
Jory soils are composed of…
red volcanic soils - high iron (Dundee Hills)
Nekia soils are composed of…
dark volcanic loam (Eola Amity)
Laurelwood soils are composed of…
loess (Chehalem Mountains)
Willakenzie soils are composed of…
sandstone and shale (Ribbon Ridge & Yamhill Carlton)
McMinnville soils?
mix of marine sediment and volcanic
What are the AVA’s of Southern Oregon?
Umpqua Valley,
Rogue Valley,
Applegate Valley
What is LIVE?
Low Input Viticulture and Enology (Ted Casteel of Bethel Heights)
Is chaptalization legal in Oregon?
YES - NOT in California
Chehalem mountains contains which sub-AVAs?
Laurelwood District and Ribbon Ridge
Chehalem producers
Erath, Ponzi, Adelsheim
Newest AVAs in Oregon
Laurelwood District
Tualatin Hills (outside Portland)
Lower Long Tom (furthest south)
True or False : the rainshadow effect is stronger for Southern Oregon than Willamette Valley?
TRUE! much warmer/drier in the South - Coastal Range is higher
What are the sub-AVAs of Umpqua Valley?
Red Hills Douglas County, Elkton
French collaborations in Oregon?
Nicolas Meo (Nicolas Jay), Jacques Lardiere - Jadot (Resonance), Dominique Lafon (Lingua Franca)
State minimum % - Oregon
100%
AVA minimum % - Oregon
95%
Varietal minimum % Oregon
90% Burgundy/Alsace Varieties; 75% Bordeaux/Rhone Varieties
Washington average sunshine hours in June
17 hrs a day!!
Why do Washington vines benefit from fertile soils?
extreme water stress - desert farming
State minimum % - Washington
95%
Which Washington state AVAs are not contained in the Columbia Valley?
Puget Sound, Columbia Gorge
Warmest AVA in Washington?
Red Mountain - most densely planted
Why “Red” Mountain?
Springtime cheatgrass - looks red in spring
Snipes Mountain producer
Upland
Largest producer of Riesling in the world?
Chateau St. Michelle
Name a producer from the Columbia Gorge
Memaloose (Idiot’s Grace),
Analemma,
Hiyu Wine Farm
Sagemoor and Cold Creek are historic vineyards from what AVA?
Columbia Valley - not inside of a nested AVA
Klipsun and Ciel du Cheval are famous vineyards from what sub AVA?
Red Mountain
Champoux, Canoe Ridge are famous vineyards of what sub AVA?
Horse Heaven Hills
Boushey, Otis, and Red Willow are famous vineyard of what sub AVA?
Yakima Valley
Seven Hills and Pepperbridge are famous vineyards of what AVA?
Walla Walla
Missoula Floods
17,000 years ago
Fruit for Quilceda Creek comes from what AVAs?
Red Mountain, Horse Heaven Hills
Quilceda Creek first earned a 100 pt score in what year?
2002 - Robert Parker
1st AVA in WA, nested AVAs?
Yakima;
Red Mt., Rattlesnake, Snipes Mt.
What is VINEA
Walla Walla Winegrowers Sustainable Trust (organic & sustainable)
Most planted grape in Rattelsnake?
Riesling
What sub AVA of Columbia Valley has the densest plantings?
Yakima Valley
What is the driest AVA in Washington?
Wahluke Slope
What are the nested AVA’s of Yakima Valley (5)?
Rattlesnake Hills, Snipes Mountain, Red Mountain, Candy Mountain (smallest in WA - SE of Red Mt.), Goose Gap (north-facing)
Wallula Gap
Bottleneck of the Missoula Floods -
backed up water from the east and spat it out to the west down the gorge forming “Touchet Beds” of sediment at the basins of the Columbia, Yakima, and Walla Walla valley floors
Describe the inversion layer in Yakima
Syncline basins trap cold air, so the higher vineyards are actually warmer
Yakima Valley grows 75% of the nations ____
hops
What is the climate of Washington?
Columbia Valley, Walla Walla - arid, dry desert (rainshadow of Cascades) - low disease pressure - HIGH diurnals - COLD winters
What are the major grapes of Washington?
Riesling, Cabernet, Merlot, Syrah
Red grape popularized in the 90s
Merlot - Leonetti
Notable viticulture techniques in Washington?
Irrigation, phylloxera-free, dual trunk training (freeze), bury fruiting canes, plant at higher elevation, post-harvest irrigation
Washington Wine pioneers (helped by Telistcheff) in 1960s
Associated Vintners (now Columbia Winery),
American Wine Growers (Now Ch. St. Michelle)
What is the Geology of Washington?
Alluvial sands, silt, loess, and loam over basalt bedrock
basalt cobblestones in Rocks District.
Historically - 17 mya Miocene volcanoes spewed lava everywhere - the basalt caused the ground to sink.
THEN the Missoula floods carved channels into the Basalt.
5 Major producers of Washington State?
Quilceda Creek, Leonetti, Cayuse, Andrew Will, DeLille
What are the newest AVA’s of Columbia Valley?
White Bluffs
The Burn of Columbia Valley (Between HHV and Columbia Gorge)
Royal Slope (between Ancient Lakes and Lake Chelan)
Candy Mountain
Goose Gap
VQA Province minimum %
100%
VQA vintage date minimum %
85%
VQA varietal minimum %
85%
British Columbia VQA appellation minimum %
95%
Event shifting market in Canada in 1988?
Free-Trade agreement with United States; vine-pull, vinifera, competition with american wines, VQA in Ontario established
Exception to VQA vintage dating
VQA sparkling - NV
1974 important event in Canadian wine
Canadian government lifted a moratorium on new wineries
French hybrids in Canada
Vidal, Baco Noir, Chancellor, Seyval Blanc
What is the climate of the Okanagan Valley?
Continental - long daylight hours, tempering effect of Lake Okanagan, VERY COLD winters
Ice wine harvest temperature
-8 C, 17.5 F (night harvest)
Wha are the VQA Designated Viticultural Areas of British Columbia?
Fraser Valley, Gulf Islands, Kootenays, Lillooet, Okanagan Valley**, Shuswap, Similkameen Valley**, Thomson Valley, Vancouver Island
Lake Okanagan converges with what major river to the South?
Columbia River
What is the first official subregion of the Okanagan Valley?
Golden Mile est. 2014
What DVA surrounds Vancouver, BC?
Fraser Valley
What is the maximum g/L for BRUT VQA sparkling wine?
EXCEPTION - 15 g/L
What are the top 2 white grapes of British Columbia?
Pinot Gris, Chardonnay
What are the top 2 red grapes of British Columbia?
Merlot, Pinot Noir
Where was the first ice wine made in Canada?
Okanagan Valley, BC, by Walter Hanlie in 1973
Okanagan Valley is between which two mountain ranges?
Cascades & Monashees
GI’s of Okanagan Valley?
Okanagan Falls, Golden Mile, Skaha Bench, Naramata Bench, (Osoyoos - unofficial)
What are Idaho’s AVAs and which is the only one located entirely within the state?
Lewis and Clark Valley (shared w/ WA), Snake River Valley (shared w/ OR), Eagle Foothills*
Walla Walla sits at the confluence of what 3 rivers?
Columbia, Snake, Walla Walla
