USA: Washington Flashcards
AVAs that cross WA/OR border
- Columbia Valley
- Walla Walla Valley
- Columbia Gorge
boundaries of the Columbia Valley AVA are based on?
The Columbia Basin - 11 million acres, 1/3rd of the whole state
Washington AVAs that are NOT in the Columbia Valley AVA
Puget Sound
Columbia Gorge
Cold Creek Vineyard
- area
- producer
- significance
Columbia Valley AVA (one of the few sites without a nested AVA)
* Chateau Ste Michelle flagship site
* Washington’s oldest Cab Sauv vines.. 1973
AVAs of Yakima Valley (6)
- Yakima Valley
- Snipes Mountain
- Red Mountain
- Rattlesnake Hills
- Candy Mountain
- Goose Gap
3 mountains, 1 hill, 1 valley, 1 gap
Red Willow Vineyard
Yakima Valley
- WA’s 1st Syrah (1986)
- furthest western vyd in Yakima
- 1300ft
Owen Roe, Delille, Gramercy Cellars, Savage Grace
Yakima Valley elevation for plantings, why
1000 - 1400ft.. lower is more frost prone, cold air settles
Washington’s hottest AVA? Why?
Red Mountain AVA (within Yakima Valley)
( also the state’s most densely planted AVA)
* Cascade’s rain shadow, slightly lower elevation (500 - 1500ft), south facing slopes
Red Mountain AVA
- origin of name
- climate/moderating features
- avg rainfall
- terrain/elevation
Yakima Valley
Red bc of reddish cheatgrass
- CLIMATE: contiental; hottest AVA in WA. Arid, windy, significant diurnal. Moderated by Yakima River
- RAIN ~7in yr, Cascade Mountain rain shadow.
- TERRAIN: SW facing gentle mountain slopes formed by ice age flooding
* 540 - 1400ft
Red Mountain AVA
- location
- 1st vineyards
- major vineyards/producers?
YAKIMA VALLEY AVA
1st in1975: Ciel du Cheval, Kiona
Important Producers:
* Upchurch Vineyards, Col Solare, Force Majeure, Hedges
Important Vineyards:
* Klipsun, Ciel du Cheval, Kiona, Col Solare
Most planted Red Mountain AVA grape?
Cab Sauv
Col Solare
Antinori x Chateau Ste Michelle
Red Mountain AVA
Snipes Mountain AVA
2009; Yakima Valley anticline
* 750M S, 820M N for the lower limit - up to nearly 1310ft
Washington’s oldest vines
1917 plot of Muscat of Alexandria vines, Uplands Vineyard, in the Snipes Mountain AVA
* Uplands Vineyard remains the AVA’s only “in AVA” producer
Rattlesnake Hills AVA
- elevation
- 3 most important vineyards
Yakima Valley
* 850 - 3085ft for plantings
* very dry.. 6in/yr rain sometimes. Cascade Mountains rain shadow, Yakima Range’s protection from the north
* Kennedy Shah, Savage Grace, Hyatt Vineyards
Yakima Valley’s rain shadow?
Cascade Mountains
(rainfall as little as 6in/yr)
* Yakima Range protects from the north
Rattlesnake Hills AVA key producers/vineyards
KEY: Kennedy Shah, Savage Grace, Hyatt Vineyards
In the AVA but not labelling: Cote Bonneville’s Dubrul, Andrew Wills’ Two Blondes
Candy Mountain AVA
Yakima Valley
Washington’s smallest; est 2020
Goose Gap AVA
Yakima Valley
Washington’s newest - 2021
* north-facing vineyards, mostly
Walla Walla Valley rivers
“many waters” = namesake
Columbia River
Walla Walla River
Snake River
Walla Walla Valley rain shadow
Blue Mountains
Missoula Floods “bottleneck”
Wallula Gap, located in Walla Walla Valley
Walla Wall Valley elevation
400 - 2000ft, but viti starts at 850ft bc frost
Walla Walla Valley’s rainshadow
Blue Mountains
Walla Walla Valley main soil type? Why does it work here?
Loess
* arable and fertile, but free-draining. The soils can hold water but are still free-draining. The climate is arid and dry, the soils are never wet and heavy
Walla Walla Valley’s “fouding fathers”
- Gary Figgins, planted 1st vinifera in 1974, founded Leonetti Cellar in 1977
- also in 1977.. Rick Small planted the plot of Chardonnay that would become Woodward Canyon
- Baker Ferguson, L’Ecole
- Eric Rindal, Waterbrook
Anticlines and synclines
An anticline is essentially an upward fold in layered rocks, like a giant wrinkle in the Earth’s crust. Imagine a rug that’s been pushed together at both ends, creating a ridge in the center. In geological terms, this ridge is the anticline
A syncline is the opposite of that… basically a “valley” in the fold.
Champoux Vineyard
Horse Heaven Hills AVA
Horse Heaven Hills AVA
- top vineyard site
Champoux Vineyard
Slightly lower elevation = more frost prone. 200ft to 1800ft, sits at edge of Columbia River
Wahluke Slope AVA
“watering hole”
Driest Washington AVA, barely 6in/yr
* rises 425 - 1480ft from the Columbia River
* south-facing; deep windblown well-drained sands
Most planted grape in Ancient Lakes of Columbia Valley AVA?
riesling
* Milbrandt Vineyards is the largest operation
Only Columbia Valley nested AVA OUTSIDE of Missoula Flood zone?
Lake Chelan AVA
Washington’s coolest AVA?
Columbia Gorge AVA
Columbia Gorge AVA climate
Transitional marine –> continental climate
* 36in of rain in the west, 10ish in the east
* WIND is the main defining feature - funnel through the Columbia River gorge. Major influence.
Columbia Gorge AVA vineyards
Atavus Vineyard
Celilo Vineyard
Is OR’s growing area.. east or west of the Cascades
WEST
Washington’s viticultural hero
Walter Clore
Washington climate
East of the Cascades…
* arid continental with hot summer, cold winters
* avg 28º diurnal shift
* 6 - 12in rain/yr
* Cascade Mountains = rain shadow & continental climate. No maritime air has access.
Orientation of Columbia Valley ridges
East-west
(Yakima Fold Belt)
Why so much frost on Columbia Valley AVA valley floors?
Anticlines restrict air flow, creating a temperature inversion layer
* cold air bottlenecks within the synclines, unable to escape
** more frost, more diurnal, colder winters at lower elevations
Elevation in Columbia Valley AVA
700-800ft generally, but the vineyards are really more “safe” starting at 1000M and up
Washington’s methods to survive the winter
- Dual trunk vine training: 2 trunks on the same vine in parallel, an inch or two apart, ground up.
* statistically, you can get winter damage to one but not the other, even though they are growing in the same spot - Burying canes
- Irrigation after harvest
- move to higher elevation
What disease are vines particularly susceptible to after a hard winter freeze?
Crown gall affliction
Max elevation that the Missoula Floods reached
1200ft - the soils from here up were not underwater and feature more basalt
Columbia Valley AVA soils
basalt bedrock, flood-deposited sedimentary layers + windblown loess that form the region’s silt loam soil
% rules for Washington wine labelling
95% must come from state
85% if listed by AVA
95% for single vineyard
Washington labelling % rules
- 85% for county, AVA
- 95% of grapes must be from WA
- 95% for single vineyard labelling
- 100% of grapes must be from estate or controlled land to be “estate bottled”; must be from the same AVA
95% from said vintage for AVA wines (85% for state, county)
