Columbia Valley AVA
Located in the central and eastern part of the state, the Columbia Valley AVA (American Viticultural Area) accounts for 99% of all wine produced in Washington. Stretching from Canada into Oregon, the 11,000,000-acre region features more than 40,000 acres of vineyards. The region’s northerly latitude, similar to Bordeaux and Burgundy, provides the Columbia Valley with two hours of additional sunlight during the summer months than California. There are eight smaller AVAs within the Columbia Valley: Yakima Valley, Red Mountain, Walla Walla, Horse Heaven Hills, Rattlesnake Hills, Lake Chelan, Snipes Mountain, and Wahluke Slope. We currently harvest fruit from a number of celebrated sites in four of these AVAs. Here are brief overviews of a few of those regions.
Horse Heaven Hills
Over the years we have sourced fruit from a number of wonderful sites in the Horse Heaven Hills AVA, most notably the Champoux Vineyard. The region borders the Yakima Valley to the north and the Columbia River to the south. As with most of the winegrowing regions in Eastern Washington, Horse Heaven Hills is buffeted by strong winds from the west throughout the growing season. This is a superb appellation for Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.