USA Washington Flashcards
Washington State
General
2nd Largest fine wines producer in the US.
5% of total production of the Country.
Most of the state’s wine regions, and over 99% of its vineyards, are located east of the Cascade Mountains, where the mountains’ rain shadow effect turns the land arid and necessitates irrigation. Rainfall here averages 6 to 12 inches a year.
Continental Climate. Hot summers, cold winters. Cold and freeze are concerns, ripening is not a problem.
Washington AVAs
Columbia Valley
Walla Walla Valley
Yakima Valley
Horse Heaven Hills
Columbia Valley AVA
Largest appellation (11 million acres)
Follows the outline of the Columbia River Basin and dips across the Oregon border.
Most of Washington’s other significant AVAs, including Yakima Valley, Walla Walla Valley, and Horse Heaven Hills, are nested within its borders.
Yakima Valley
Washington’s first AVA (1983)
1/3 of state’s vineyards
5 nested AVAs (Snipes Mountain, Rattlesnake Hills, Red Mountain, Candy Mountain, and Goose Gap)
High elevation in Rattlesnake Hills (Riesling, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot)
Red Mountain, warmest region and most planted (important tannic Cabernet Sauvignon)
Walla Walla Valley AVA
Shared with Oregon.
Cabernet, Merlot and Syrah.
Chardonnay and Riesling.
Other important commercial grapes include Syrah, Gewürztraminer, Sémillon, Sauvignon Blanc, and Cabernet Franc.
Producers
Quilceda Creek
Gramercy Cellars
Andrew Will
Longshadows Vineyards
Missoula Floods
The bedrock east of the Cascades is basalt, overlaid by sediments deposited by the Missoula Floods, a catastrophic cycle of massive floods that occurred repeatedly at the end of the last ice age, some 12,000 to 18,000 years ago.
