A Guide to Washington's Wine Terroir

A Guide to Washington's Wine Terroir

Washington’s many microclimates produce various soil types behind its delicious AVAs

written and photographed by Daniel O’Neil

The desert seems an unlikely place to grow wine. Yet vineyard managers across the globe dream of such long, dry, reliable growing seasons with hot days and cool nights. Abundant irrigation water from the Columbia River and Cascade Range make this dream a reality for Washington’s AVAs, or American Viticultural Areas. With nineteen AVAs to date, Washington, the country’s second-largest wine producer, continues to grow in size and fame.

Vivid with fruit and deep in color, Washington wines achieve balance with refreshing acidity, ripe tannins and defined varietal flavors. While a few AVAs exist in cooler, damper parts of the state, most lie in arid Eastern Washington where loess, a blend of fine, windblown silt and sand resulting from repeated glacial retreat, provides ideal soil. The Missoula Floods, which tore through the region between 18,000 and 15,000 years ago, added soil diversity. These soils prove naturally resistant to root-eating phylloxera mites, so vines here are ungrafted.

Above ground, the Cascade Range rain shadow casts a desert climate for most of Washington’s vineyards. The lack of rain requires irrigation, but this asset gives growers fine-tuned control over ripening. Desert air also reduces the need for pesticides, which creates a naturally sustainable environment. Most importantly, the formidable swing between daily temperatures during the final months of ripening allows for flavor and tannins to develop while acidity remains sharp.

Known for red and white Bordeaux and Rhone varietals and anything from tempranillo to chardonnay, plus eighty other varietals, Washington can grow almost anything. Yet winemakers prefer to craft wines using different AVAs, not varietals. “The state’s diverse AVAs let us blend multiple layers of complexity and nuance of flavors, aromas and textures, to make better wines,” said Dan Wampfler, winemaker at Abeja Winery in Walla Walla.

The enormous Columbia Valley AVA serves as a catch-all for the Eastern Washington wine country and mainly covers wines blended from multiple AVAs. But the true, defining fruit of Washington wine emerges from an AVA with its own signature of character and style.

The Columbia Valley AVA encompasses most of Washington’s AVAs, but also includes some of the best vineyard views of the Columbia River.

Daniel O’Neil

Walla Walla AVA

Since becoming an AVA in 1984, Walla Walla has grown to become Washington’s wine epicenter. Home to the largest concentration of wineries and to some of the most iconic vineyards in the state, nowhere in Washington feels more like wine country.

Morning sunlight catches the early-season shoots in Seven Hills vineyard, Walla Walla AVA.

Daniel O’Neil

Walla Walla soils vary greatly— flood silts, loess, fractured basalt, ancient river rocks—each providing a distinct flavor profile. Cabernet sauvignon, merlot and syrah dominate, but other varietals like cabernet franc and viognier also flourish.

Vineyard locations range from northern sites overlooking the Palouse to terraces in the cooler, wetter foothills of the Blue Mountains to the east. Some lie in Missoula Flood terraces just south of town. The sloping vineyards around Seven Hills, actually in Oregon, offer soil types that change dramatically with elevation. A new sub- AVA, The Rocks District, also in Oregon, has carved itself from the Walla Walla AVA because of its odd soil type, which is almost ninety percent cobblestone.

First-rate winemaking facilities like at Abeja in Walla Walla demonstrate winemakers’ respect for Washington-grown grapes.

Daniel O’Neil

More sub-AVAs will surface here, but Walla Walla maintains a common identity. “We’ve always been pretty isolated out here, so it was important from the beginning for winemakers and growers to share information, help each other out and collaborate,” said Jordan Dunn-Small, general manager and co-owner of Woodward Canyon Winery, which her parents founded in 1981. “Even as the industry has grown, we still seem able to hold onto that sense of camaraderie and collaboration.”

Jordan Dunn-Small manages and co-owns Woodward Canyon, which her parents founded in 1977 before they helped create the Walla Walla AVA.

Daniel O’Neil

Red Mountain AVA

Situated on the eastern end of the Yakima Valley, perched between the Yakima River and a weathered, barren hilltop, the Red Mountain AVA bakes in the summer sun. One of Washington’s warmest AVAs, Red Mountain also gets windy, all of which leads to intense, tannic, structured red wines full of ripe fruit.

Red Mountain recalls someplace like Bordeaux, but with a scent of sagebrush riding the breeze. Monoculture here creates a vast plain of vineyard dotted by wineries. It is one of the smallest AVAs, which helps put a premium on Red Mountain cabernet sauvignon, merlot and syrah. Fruit from celebrated vineyards like Ciel du Cheval and Kiona can be found in some of Washington’s most expensive and elusive wines.

Vineyards dominate the sun-rich terrain of Red Mountain AVA, where wineries punctuate the endless rows of vines.

Daniel O’Neil

Yakima Valley AVA

The Yakima Valley looks and feels like an agriculture haven with its rows of cherries, apples and hops. Yet the smooth, rolling hills of sagebrush speak for the rain shadow. These two traits combine to produce some of Washington’s best wine grapes, which pushed Yakima Valley to become the state’s first AVA in 1983.

Much of Washington’s wine history began at Red Willow Vineyards on the far west end of the valley. First planted in 1972, Red Willow pioneered varietals in Washington, including syrah, malbec, sangiovese, tempranillo and viognier.

Red Willow Vineyards, planted on the western frontier of the Yakima Valley AVA, first introduced varietals like sangiovese and syrah to Washington’s wine industry.

Daniel O’Neil

Annual rainfall here, as for Eastern Washington in general, averages eight inches. A diversity of soils, elevations, aspects and slope offers relatively moderate temperatures, which leads to ideal ripeness at harvest. The wines—often cabernet sauvignon, syrah, riesling, chardonnay—reveal aromatic complexity, smooth tannins and good acidity.

Yakima Valley has subdivided into more specific AVAs—Snipes Mountain, Candy Mountain, Goose Gap, Naches Heights, Rattlesnake Hills and Red Mountain, but only these last two are commonly labeled on their own.

Many of Washington’s top wines ferment in Woodinville, where Yakima Valley grapes feature prominently. “We’re the neighborhood valley for Seattle wineries,” said Jonathan Sauer, second-generation winegrower at Red Willow Vineyards. “Wine is a good bridge. It brings the east and west sides of the Cascades together.”

Second-generation winegrower Jonathan Sauer, of Red Willow Vineyards, grows exceptional Yakima Valley AVA grapes at one of the state’s pioneering sites.

Daniel O’Neil

Rattlesnake Hills AVA

The Rattlesnake Hills AVA covers mostly south-facing, undulating shrub-steppe below a high east-west ridgeline. Located in the northcentral Yakima Valley, Rattlesnake Hills emerged from that larger AVA in 2006. Its geography and resulting microclimate set it apart.

Rattlesnake Hills’ geography and microclimate set it apart, leading to an extended growing season for vineyards like DuBrul’s.

Andrea Johnson Photography/Washington State Wine Commission

Vineyard elevations reach 3,000 feet, which leads to an extended growing season and softer tannins. Vineyards like DuBrul, Sheridan and Elephant Mountain reliably produce Bordeaux and Rhone varietals. Local winemaker Co Dinn has plenty to work with here. “Really vibrant fruit—that part of the Yakima Valley is one of my favorites. There’s a lot of potential up there,” said Dinn.

Really vibrant fruit—that part of the Yakima Valley is one of my favorites. There’s a lot of potential up there.

Horse Heaven Hills AVA

On a broad south-facing slope that descends to the Columbia River grow some of Washington’s finest wine grapes. Like most of Eastern Washington, the Horse Heaven Hills AVA endures a harsh environment. Juniper hugs the few canyons, but bunch grass, sagebrush and sunshine dominate. Columbia River winds offer cooling and mildew control for cabernet sauvignon, merlot, chardonnay, riesling, syrah and more.

Arid, secluded and sparsely populated, the Horse Heaven Hills AVA reminds of the Wild West, while also producing some of Washington’s finest wine grapes.

Daniel O’Neil

The most notable vineyard, Champoux, dates back to 1972. Its cabernet sauvignon helped establish several of Washington’s early, now renowned, wineries and continues to supply the state’s top winemakers. “Here, it’s all about the tannins,” said longtime winegrower Paul Champoux. “Soft, big, smooth tannins, that’s Horse Heaven Hills.”

To the west, The Burn of Columbia Valley AVA benefits from similarly warm and windy conditions.

White Bluffs, Wahluke Slope, Royal Slope, Ancient Lakes AVAs

On the east side of the Columbia River, north of Walla Walla and Yakima, four AVAs make their mark on Washington wine. The newest, White Bluffs AVA, created in 2021, is actually home to some of the state’s oldest vines, planted in 1972. These vineyards—Sagemoor, Dionysus and Bacchus—helped found Washington’s wine industry and still grow coveted grapes today, mostly cabernet sauvignon and merlot.

The Wahluke Slope proves one of the state’s hottest and most productive AVAs. Besides the classic red varietals, which acquire stout concentration and structure, it also provides rich chardonnay. Farther north, the Royal Slope AVA rises high in elevation, granting acidity alongside ripeness to varieties like syrah. On its northern border, the Ancient Lakes AVA offers a climate cool enough for crisp, fruity white wines like riesling, chardonnay and pinot gris.

First planted in 1972, Sagemoor vineyard in the White Bluffs AVA is home to some of the state’s oldest vines.

Daniel O’Neil

Vines in the White Bluffs AVA overlook the Columbia River and, eccentrically Washington, the Hanford Nuclear Site.

Daniel O’Neil

Columbia Gorge AVA

While most of Washington’s AVAs exist in the desert and produce powerful red wines, the Columbia Gorge AVA brings cooler, wetter growing conditions to the sorting table. Acidity and minerality thrive here. Warmer sites grow elegant syrah and grenache, and cooler areas ripen balanced pinot noir. But the AVA excels with white grapes such as chardonnay, riesling, gewürztraminer and pinot gris, especially at Celilo vineyard, originally planted in 1972.

Stark changes in gorge climate, where annual rainfall tapers from five feet on the AVA’s western edge to six inches in the east, create opportunity. Vineyard elevations from 100 to nearly 2,000 feet above the Columbia add diversity. Steady gorge winds seem the only constant. The AVA will likely fracture into sub-AVAs.

“It’s hard to make generalizations here,” said Todd Harrington, vineyard operations manager at Celilo vineyard. “There’s a huge variety of outcomes, growing conditions and microclimates that are all right next to each other. It allows for tons of experimentation.”

The Columbia Gorge AVA offers lush growing sites and, at locations like Cor Cellars, views of Mount Hood.

Daniel O’Neil

Puget Sound, Lake Chelan, Lewis-Clark Valley AVAs

With one eye on the future, and another on lush Pacific Northwest scenery, Washington includes a few AVAs outside of the desert. The Puget Sound AVA, designated in 1995, includes vines on Bainbridge Island and San Juan Island. German and Alsatian varieties with low heat requirements for ripening, like Madeleine Angevine, siegerebbe and Müller-Thurgau, create delicate white wines.

Winemakers in the Lake Chelan AVA source most grapes from warmer areas farther south. But grapevines on the lake’s southeastern tip produce syrah, pinot noir, chardonnay and pinot gris as growers experiment with site selection in preparation for warmer years to come.

Grapevines on Lake Chelan’s southeastern tip produce syrah, pinot noir, chardonnay and pinot gris as growers experiment with site selection in preparation for warmer years to come.

Washington State Wine Commission

Most of the Lewis-Clark Valley AVA sits on the Idaho side of the border, but natural rainfall and rugged, diverse terrain make this region a new frontier in Washington wine, with plenty of room to grow.