Washington Flashcards
Name the AVAs of WA
Puget Sound Columbia Valley (shared with Oregon) Yakima Valley Rattlesnake Hills Red Mountain Snipes Mountain Naches Heights Ancient Lakes of Columbia Valley Walla Walla Valley (shared with Oregon) Horse Heaven Hills Lake Chelan Wahluke Slope Columbia Gorge (shared with Oregon)
What are the two newest Washington AVAs?
Naches Heights (2011) Ancient Lake of Columbia Valley (2013)
What two grapes recently overtook Riesling as the most planted grapes?
Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot
WA’s smallest AVA
Red Mountain AVA
What major mountain range created Washingtons rainshadow effect?
The Cascades
Eastern Washington climate and threats from climate?
continental climate, with hot summers and cold winters (Frost and winter freeze are major concerns)
Largest AVA in WA?
Columbia Valley AVA (11 million acres)
Name Columbia Valleys AVAs
Red Mountain, Yakima Valley, Walla Walla Valley, Wahluke Slope, Snipes Mountain, Rattlesnake Hills, Lake Chelan, Horse Heaven Hills, Naches Heights, and Ancient Lakes of Columbia Valley.
WAs First AVA? Year? Most planted grape? Sub AVAs?
Yakima Valley, approved as Washington’s first AVA in 1983. Chardonnay is most planted.
Rattlesnake Hills
Red Mountain
Snipes Mountain
Where is “the Rocks”? Why is it called that?
Walla Walla - “the Rocks”, features a topsoil of basalt cobblestones that draws comparisons to the galets of Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Walla Walla soil and how did it come to be? Most planted grapes?
Basalt bedrock and thin alluvial topsoil. Basalts formed 14m years ago from volcanic erruptions, but were exposed by the same Missoula Floods that washed through the Willamette Valley at the end of the last ice age. Alluvial Topsoil comes from the flood 13,000 years ago.
Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Syrah are the valley’s three most planted (and most acclaimed) grapes, comprising over 80% of current plantings.
Why hasn’t phylloxera been an issue in WA state, especially east of the cascades?
1) Sandy soils
2) frigid winters = phylloxera can’t survive
3) vast distance between vineyards = phylloxera can’t spread
What helps mitigate disease pressure in WA State vineyards, especially east of the cascades?
1) severe, frigid winters don’t let pests survive
2) low rainfall / dry, arid climate supresses mildew/fungal issues
What techniques do vineyard managers use in washington state to protect vines from harsh winters?
1) Dual-Trunk system
2) Cane burying
What great natural event shaped the current soil composition of Washington State wineries?
Missoula floods
Major names in WA state wine history
- Dr. Walter Clore (Father of Washington Wines- 1940s, worked to prove Vinifera could grow)
- André Tchelistcheff (1960s, helped consult at wineries that would turn into Ste Michelle and Columbia Winery)
- David Lake MW (1980s, headwinemaker for Columbia Winery)
- Bob Betz MW (Ste Michele)
Most planted grapes in WA State
Cabernet Sauvignon & Merlot account for 1/3 of all plantings
What all encompassing AVA in WA State includes every other AVA except Puget Sound and Columbia Gorge?
Columbia Valley AVA (extends into Oregon)
What AVAs overlap Washington and Oregon?
Columbia Valley, Columbia Gorge, Walla Walla
Sagemoor Vineyards, Cold Creek, and Stillwater Creek Vineyards are wholey within what WA AVA?
Columbia Valley (Only major vineyards not within a sub-AVA)
Who owns Cold Creek Vineayrd?
Chateau Ste Michelle, Columbia Valley AVA
Three sub AVAs of Yakima Valley
Rattlesnake Hills, Snipes Mountain, Red Mountain
Red Willow Vineyard, Boshey, and Otis Vineyards are in which WA state AVA?
Yakima Valley
Warmest AVA in WA
Red Mountain, Yakima Valley
Where are the Kiona, Klipsun, and Ciel du Cheval vineyards?
Red Mountain, Yakima Valley
Name of WA State winery that is a prestige collaboration between Tuscany’s Antinori and Washington’s Chateau Ste. Michelle. What AVA?
Col Solare, Red Mountain (Yakima Valley)
Snipes Mountain is in what AVA? What are its AVA boundaries defined by?
Within Yakima Valley, defined by Elevation (750ft-1310ft)
Andrew Will’s estate Two Blondes Vineyard and Côte Bonneville’s Dubrul Vineyard are in what AVA?
Rattlesnake Hills, but labels as Yakima Valley
What three rivers meet in Walla Walla Valley?
Walla Walla River, Columbia River, Snake River
Where is Leonetti’s Loess Vineyard?
Walla Walla Valley, where Loess is at is deepest in the foothills of the Blue Mountains
Cayuse, Woodward Canyon, L’Ecole, and Leonetti are major wineries in which AVA?
Walla Walla Valley
What Walla Walla Valley subregion is located entirely within Oregon?
3,770-acre Rocks of Milton-Freewater area, located entirely in Oregon’s Umatilla County, received AVA status in early 2015
Sagemoor and Champoux Vineyard are in what AVA?
Horse Heaven Hills
Lake Chelan’s predominate grapes are what?
riesling, pinot noir
What was the first site on Wahluke slope, planted in 1981?
Weinbau vineyard
