Washington Flashcards
What is Washington’s largest AVA?
Columbia Valley (at 11 million acres!)
What was Washington’s first AVA?
Yakima Valley (1983)
What is Washington’s smallest (and warmest!) AVA?
Red Mountain
Where can you find “The Rocks”?
In Walla Walla Valley
What Washington AVAs are NOT contained within Columbia Valley?
Puget Sound
Columbia Gorge
What are the sub AVAs of Columbia Valley?
Lake Chelan Ancient Lakes Wahluke Slope Naches Heights Yakima Valley Horse Heaven Hills Walla Walla Valley Columbia Valley
What are the sub-AVAs of Yakima Valley?
Rattlesnake Hills
Red Mountain
Snipes Mountain
Who owns Columbia Winery?
Gallo, as of 2012
Five major wineries/parent corporations in Washington
Chateau Ste Michelle Gallo Hogue Cellars Hedges K Vintners Precept Wines (Canoe Ridge Waterbrook, Willow Crest)
Columbia Basin: Climate and latitude
Arid continental (average diurnal shift 28º, may be up to 40º). 6-12 inches of rain annually; irrigation required for vinegrowing. 46º N, or more
What are synclines and anticlines?
Anticlines are ridgelines
Synclines are the valleys between them
In Washtingon, created by tectonic compression during the Miocene Epoch.
What is the Yakima Fold Belt, and how does it affect viticulture?
The low-lying topography of south-central Washington, striated by east-west ridges, from 4,000ft high at most, and generally no more than 1,000ft high in the valleys.
The anticlines restrict airflow and cause a temperature inversion layer, as cool air bottlnecks in the synclines. This means that valley vineyards are colder, have a smaller diurnal shift and more frost pressure than higher elevation vineyards.
How are Washington’s ripest vineyards situated?
On anticlinal ridges, facing south (seen in Red Mountain, Wahluke Slope, Horse Heaven Hills, and elsewhere); elevation and aspect grants higher degree days, temperatures, and lesser risk of frost.
What are two techniques used to protect against the winter cold?
Dual trunk training and buried canes.
Dual trunk is just what it sounds like, starting an inch or so above the soil; statistically, if one trunk dies in the winter, the other may survive.
Buried cane is used with low cordon trained vines; one fruiting cane is buried by heaping up soil around it so as to protect it from the cold; if the aboveground canopy dies over the winter, the buried cane can be unearthed and used in the coming year.
When were the Missoula Floods, and what physical feature caused the bottleneck in southern Washington?
12,000-18,000 years ago, 2 to 3 times per century as the glacier lake periodically broke through the retreating Cordilleran Ice Sheet.
The Wallula Gap bottlenecked the onrushing water, causing massive flooding of the Columbia Basin.
What are Touchet beds?
Nutrient rich deposits of gravel and other flood sediements, up to 100ft deep at the lowest points of the Columbia, Yakima, and Walla Walla Valleys.
At what elevation did the Missoula floods top out?
1200ft.
What does the term Eolian mean?
Shaped by wind - referring to the loess soils of the Columbia and Willamette valleys.
Who is the father of Washington wine, and why?
Walter Clore
Pioneered the study of properly siting vinifera in Washington (prior to that, grapevines were either native, or killed off every few years by the cold); mentored the nascent WA wine industry from the 1940’s to the 1970’s.
Who owns the majority of Snipes Mountain? What are the two vineyards planted there?
Upland Estate
Upland Vineyard and Harrison Hill
When was Associated Vintners founded, and what was their original estate vineyard? What is the winery known as today?
1962; planted Harrison Hill Vineyard in 1963.
Columbia Winery
Who was the original consulting winemaker for American Wine Growers? What is the winery known as today?
Andre Tchelistcheff
Chateau Ste Michelle
Major white grapes of Washington
Chardonnay Riesling Pinot Gris Sauvignon Blanc Gewurztraminer
Major red grapes of Washington
Cabernet Sauvignon
Merlot
Syrah
Cabernet Franc
What and where is Sagemoor Vineyards?
A vineyard network of 900 acres north of the Tri-Cities; breaks down into four smaller vineyards:
Sagemoor, Dionysus, Bacchus, Weinbau
An important source of grapes for the Washington wine industry since its planting in 1968. Lies outside of the nested AVA’s.
Where was Washington’s first Syrah planted, and when?
Red Willow Vineyard (Yakima), 1986
Where was Washington’s first Cabernet planted, and when? Who is the owner of the vineyard?
Otis Vineyard (Yakima), 1956.
Major vineyards of Red Mountain
Ciel du Cheval (1975, Jim Holmes)
Kiona (1975, John Williams)
Grand Ciel
Klipsun
What is the viticultural elevation of Snipes Mountain?
750ft (south side) and 820ft (north side) at the low end; planted all the way to the summit at 1310ft.
Where were the first vinifera vines planted in Washington, and when? What was the grape?
1917, by William Bridgman on what is now Snipes Mountain
Muscat of Alexandria
Name two vineyards in Rattlesnake Hills, and a producer for each. How do they appellate?
Two Blondes (Andrew Will)
Dubrul (Côte Bonneville)
Appelated as Yakima Valley (residual sign of the local opposition to the creation of Rattlesnake Hills).
Walla Walla: Rivers
Columbia
Walla Walla
Snake
What marks the eastern boundary of Walla Walla? What two subregions are located there?
The Blue Mountains (create a rain backdrop - higher precipitation and therefore more possible dry farming close to the foothills).
Mill Creek
North Fork of Walla Walla Valley
Who are the founding fathers of Walla Walla?
Gary Figgins (Leonetti; first vinifera in the AVA in 1977) Rick Small (Woodward Canyon) Baker Ferguson (L'Ecole No. 41) Eric Rindal (Waterbrook)
What is Vinea?
An organization devoted to promoting sustainability (not necessarily organics) in Washington, also called the Winegrower’s Sustainable Trust. Provies guidelines for environmentally friendly vineyard practices.
Collaborates with Oregon’s LIVE to conduct certifications, which are therefore accredited by IOBC (International Organization for Biological Control of Noxious Plans and Animals) and embrace the same standards as Salmon-Safe.
Currently 2/3 of Walla Walla acreage is under the Vinea umbrella, if not actually certified.
What is Salmon-Safe?
A group dedicated to the protection of the Pacific Northwest’s watersheds.
Top three Washington regions by planted acreage
Columbia Valley (43,000) Yakima Valley (13,452) Horse Heaven Hills (10,584)
What is the second largest AVA in Washington by total acreage? How many acres are planted?
Puget Sound AVA.
5.5 million acres total; 178 planted
Horse Heaven Hills: Major vineyards
Champoux (1972) Alder Ridge Phinney Hill Canoe Ridge Benches
What is Ancient Lakes named for?
35 glacier lakes scattered throughout the region that moderate the temperature.
What is unique about Lake Chelan?
It is the only region in the Columbia Basin to lie outside the reach of the Missoula Floods.
What was the first vineyard planted in the Columbia Gorge?
Atavus Vineyard, planted to Pinot Noir in 1968 by Walter Clore.
Dry-farmed, 1700ft elevation.
What are the two key subregions of Columbia Gorge?
Underwood Mountain (Washington side) Hood River Valley (Oregon side)
