One of the truly surprising things we’ve come across at wine is the constant competition between California wineries and their neighbors to the north. It seems to us that wineries in Oregon and Washington State are constantly trying to compare themselves to California, to us that’s just silly and counterproductive. There is plenty of world class wine being produced across the north west and frankly plenty of table wine being produced in California. As a reminder AVA is American Viticulture Area…..simply put the areas where the grapes are either grown or bottled depending on the state.
Ask most wino’s about Washington wine and they’ll tell you to buy only from the Wala Wala AVA, in our experience this isn’t necessarily the case.
For those that have never been to Wala Wala, you’ll find a different feel than what you do in Napa. I’ve heard it described as either farmer friendly, or Napa 50+ years ago. Don’t think that it is a backwards little town though, although a four hour drive from either Portland or Seattle, there is not only plenty to do but Wala Wala boasts some of the best restaurants in the United States.
That being said there is plenty of internal discussion about the Wala Wala AVA. At Uncorked Ventures we’ve had some email correspondence with Doug McCrea from McCrea Cellars, who having made wine in Washington State for 22 years knows the landscape as well as anyone. He has said:
“It should be interesting that the “wine blogggers gathering” in 2010 is in Walla Walla as you were certainly astute at considering the distance of travel there. I do hope that it’s not any time between December and April as the weather can make it very difficult for travel depending on the conditions (unless one flies).
There’s a great deal of misconception about the Walla Walla wine region. I could tell you in depth of how and why it developed into what is “perceived” in today’s media as something like the “epicenter” of Washington wine. Nothing could be further from the truth! However, it’s quite a long and fairly complicated story.
The bottom line is that greater than 80% of the grapes that go into the wines of the Walla Walla wineries are not from the AVA. Also, had it not been for the fact that the AVA was extended into Oregon, it would amount to a few hundred acres.
In comparison, the Yakima Valley Appellation alone is 12,000 acres, while the Walla Walla AVA represents 10% of that sum. In a nutshell, a study I did about three or four years ago regarding Syrah revealed that (at that time) of the 60+ wines produced from the grape (and by Federal requirements must say on the bottle where the wine was actually bottled, not from where the grapes originated), five of the wines were exclusively from the Walla Walla AVA!
Essentially, I applaud their marketing acumen, but the truth is that it’s becoming far overblown as to their prominence in our State. The fact that there are roughly 100+ wineries congregated in the AVA, and that the town did a great job of “transformation” in the past ten years, does not constitute anything other than that!
There are over 600 wineries in Washington, and virtually 80% to 90% of the State’s actual wine production is not made at Walla Walla AVA wineries. The Yakima Valley AVA wineries constitute roughly 55 to 60, and granted, a great majority of them are pretty damn mediocre and have been so for quite a long time.
However, I would take a look at what’s developing in Woodenville with the 40+ wineries located there, as many represent some of our State’s finest products. Now, several of them are wineries east of the Cascades, establishing a “tasting room winery” to capitalize on the Puget Sound market. Essentially, none of them use grapes from the Puget Sound appellation, as it’s simply a maritime climate.
I trust that you find this information “informative” as I continue to see this skewed perceptions proliferate with the media from outside of Washington. To further exaggerate the problem, we have wine writers who constantly contribute to this misconception. Were they to actually, objectively taste and score wines, that is, without literally looking at the bottle while doing so, we might possibly have a more accurate and fair picture of our State’s wine industry.
Please let me know if I may be of help to you in any regard as you progress with Uncorked Adventures. Hopefully, it’s through bloggers such as yourself that we may ultimately unravel the truth. It will most certainly not come from the standard publications distributed throughout the country.”
At Uncorked Ventures we hope you have enjoyed this short introduction into the fascinating world of Washington wine. If you’d like to learn more about wine in general and possibly sign up for one of our wine clubs please visit us today! wine clubs
Walla Walla Wine Little Known Details
One of the truly surprising things we’ve come across at wine is the constant competition between California wineries and their neighbors to the north. It seems to us that wineries in Oregon and Washington State are constantly trying to compare themselves to California, to us that’s just silly and counterproductive. There is plenty of world class wine being produced across the north west and frankly plenty of table wine being produced in California. As a reminder AVA is American Viticulture Area…..simply put the areas where the grapes are either grown or bottled depending on the state.
Ask most wino’s about Washington wine and they’ll tell you to buy only from the Wala Wala AVA, in our experience this isn’t necessarily the case.
For those that have never been to Wala Wala, you’ll find a different feel than what you do in Napa. I’ve heard it described as either farmer friendly, or Napa 50+ years ago. Don’t think that it is a backwards little town though, although a four hour drive from either Portland or Seattle, there is not only plenty to do but Wala Wala boasts some of the best restaurants in the United States.
That being said there is plenty of internal discussion about the Wala Wala AVA. At Uncorked Ventures we’ve had some email correspondence with Doug McCrea from McCrea Cellars, who having made wine in Washington State for 22 years knows the landscape as well as anyone. He has said:
“It should be interesting that the “wine blogggers gathering” in 2010 is in Walla Walla as you were certainly astute at considering the distance of travel there. I do hope that it’s not any time between December and April as the weather can make it very difficult for travel depending on the conditions (unless one flies).
There’s a great deal of misconception about the Walla Walla wine region. I could tell you in depth of how and why it developed into what is “perceived” in today’s media as something like the “epicenter” of Washington wine. Nothing could be further from the truth! However, it’s quite a long and fairly complicated story.
The bottom line is that greater than 80% of the grapes that go into the wines of the Walla Walla wineries are not from the AVA. Also, had it not been for the fact that the AVA was extended into Oregon, it would amount to a few hundred acres.
In comparison, the Yakima Valley Appellation alone is 12,000 acres, while the Walla Walla AVA represents 10% of that sum. In a nutshell, a study I did about three or four years ago regarding Syrah revealed that (at that time) of the 60+ wines produced from the grape (and by Federal requirements must say on the bottle where the wine was actually bottled, not from where the grapes originated), five of the wines were exclusively from the Walla Walla AVA!
Essentially, I applaud their marketing acumen, but the truth is that it’s becoming far overblown as to their prominence in our State. The fact that there are roughly 100+ wineries congregated in the AVA, and that the town did a great job of “transformation” in the past ten years, does not constitute anything other than that!
There are over 600 wineries in Washington, and virtually 80% to 90% of the State’s actual wine production is not made at Walla Walla AVA wineries. The Yakima Valley AVA wineries constitute roughly 55 to 60, and granted, a great majority of them are pretty damn mediocre and have been so for quite a long time.
However, I would take a look at what’s developing in Woodenville with the 40+ wineries located there, as many represent some of our State’s finest products. Now, several of them are wineries east of the Cascades, establishing a “tasting room winery” to capitalize on the Puget Sound market. Essentially, none of them use grapes from the Puget Sound appellation, as it’s simply a maritime climate.
I trust that you find this information “informative” as I continue to see this skewed perceptions proliferate with the media from outside of Washington. To further exaggerate the problem, we have wine writers who constantly contribute to this misconception. Were they to actually, objectively taste and score wines, that is, without literally looking at the bottle while doing so, we might possibly have a more accurate and fair picture of our State’s wine industry.
Please let me know if I may be of help to you in any regard as you progress with Uncorked Adventures. Hopefully, it’s through bloggers such as yourself that we may ultimately unravel the truth. It will most certainly not come from the standard publications distributed throughout the country.”
At Uncorked Ventures we hope you have enjoyed this short introduction into the fascinating world of Washington wine. If you’d like to learn more about wine in general and possibly sign up for one of our wine clubs please visit us today! wine clubs
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