Washington

Question 1

Washington State Labeling Laws

Answer 1

• State % 95%
• County %75%
• AVA % 85 / 95%***
• Vineyard % 95%

Question 2

Washington State basics

Answer 2

• the nation’s second largest producer of premium wines
• 5% of the nation’s total production
• most of the state’s wine regions and over 95% of its vineyards are located east of the Cascade Mountains

Question 3

Washington Cascade Mountains

Answer 3

-the mountains’ rain shadow effect turns the land arid and necessitates irrigation. (Rainfall is often less than 10-12 inches a year.)

Question 4

Washington Climate

Answer 4

• Eastern Washington experiences a true continental climate,
• hot summers and cold winters: frost and winter freezes are serious concerns for growers, but ripeness is easily achieved in the state’s warm growing seasons.
• Washington’s vineyards receive additional summer sunshine hours in accordance with its northerly latitude.

Question 5

Washington terroir

Answer 5

• east of the Cascades—the bedrock is invariably basalt, overlaid by sediments deposited by the Missoula Floods
• Vineyards in eastern Washington are thus generally planted on sandy or silty loam soils derived from the flood-borne sediments.

Question 6

Missoula Floods

Answer 6

-a catastrophic cycle of massive floods that occurred repeatedly at the end of the last ice age, some 12,000-18,000 years ago.

Question 7

Washington AVAs

Answer 7

• Columbia Valley
• Columbia Gorge
• Walla Walla Valley
• Lake Chelan
• Ancient Lakes of Columbia Valley
• Wahluke Slope
• Yakima Valley
• Naches Heights
• Red Mountain
• Snipes Mountain
• Rattlesnake Hills
• Horse Heaven Hills
• Puget Sound

Question 8

Columbia Valley AVA

Answer 8

• the largest appellation in the state, covering eleven million acres—over 1/4 of Washington’s landmass.
• It follows the outline of the Columbia River Basin and dips across the Oregon border.
• Most of Washington’s other AVAs, including Yakima Valley, Walla Walla Valley, and Horse Heaven Hills—the most important vineyard areas in the state—are nested within its borders.

Question 9

Yakima Valley AVA

Answer 9

-was approved as Washington’s first AVA in 1983;
-it contains over one-third of the state’s vineyards
-three nested AVAs:
Snipes Mountain
Rattlesnake Hills
Red Mountain.

Question 10

Red Mountain AVA

Answer 10

• warmest growing region and its smallest and most densely planted AVA.
• It has developed a reputation for noteworthy, tannic Cabernet Sauvignon.

Question 11

Walla Walla AVA

Answer 11

• Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Syrah, 80% of its current plantings
• basalt bedrock and thin alluvial topsoil deposited by the Missoula Floods

Question 12

the Rocks of Milton-Freewater

Answer 12

• within Walla Walla AVA
• features a topsoil of basalt cobblestones that draws comparisons to the galets of Châteauneuf-du-Pape—and producers are just beginning to explore its potential for Rhône-style wines.
• located entirely in Oregon, received its own AVA status in early 2015.

Question 13

Washington AVAs Along the Oregon border

Answer 13

southeast of Yakima Valley and Red Mountain, Walla Walla Valley has emerged in this century as a prestige region rivaling Washington’s best.
Vineyards are a small but growing segment of the valley’s agricultural sector: vineyard acreage expanded from 450 acres to over 1,600 in the first decade of the 21st century—it is now closer to 3,000 acres—and the AVA’s reputation for premium red wine is growing alongside it.

Question 14

Washington white grapes

Answer 14

• Chardonnay and Riesling—a variety that has achieved more success in this state than elsewhere in the country—have dominated viticulture in this northerly climate historically
• by the early 2010s red varieties had surpassed them in total acreage.

Question 15

Washington red grapes

Answer 15

Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot became the state’s two most planted varieties.

Question 16

Washington Other important commercial grapes

Answer 16

-include Syrah, Gewürztraminer, Sémillon, Sauvignon Blanc, and Cabernet Franc.
Over 650 bonded wineries are currently in business in Washington.

Question 17

Washington: Merlot

Answer 17

-Merlot thrives, showing a distinctively full, sweet and luscious character, but most producers believe that the future here is in great Cabernet Sauvignon.