AVA
Columbia Valley
Columbia Valley
Established: 1984
Planted Area: 9,010 acres (3,645 ha)
Predominant Soils: Loess, sandy silts, loams
Predominant Varieties: Riesling, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Sauvignon blanc, Pinot gris, Gewürztraminer, Cabernet Franc, Viognier
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About
The Columbia Valley AVA is a very large growing region with 11 million acres (4.5 million ha) of land in total. Most of the Columbia Valley lies in Washington State, with a small section in Oregon stretching from The Dalles to Milton-Freewater. The region is 185 miles (300 km) wide and 200 miles (320 km) long.
The Columbia Valley has a largely continental high desert climate. The hot days promote slow, even ripening, while the cool nights ensure that grapes retain their natural acidity. The area receives just 6-8 inches (15-20 cm) of annual rainfall, making supplemental irrigation a necessity throughout the region.
Roughly 15,000 years ago a series of tremendous Ice Age floods (dubbed the Missoula Floods) deposited silt and sand over the area. These deposited sediments, along with wind-blown loess sediment, make up the area’s present-day soils, which are well drained and ideal for grapevines.
Region History:
On the Oregon side, the Columbia Valley wine history dates back to the early 1900s, when settlers planted the area’s first vineyard on a steep, south-sloping hill near the small town of The Dalles. These Zinfandel vines, which are now more than 100 years old, still produce wine grapes at what is today known as The Pines 1852 Vineyard, whose vintner revitalized the land in the early 1980s. Around that time, as the Washington side of the Columbia Valley appellation began to flourish with large-scale wineries, reputable winemakers started tagging the small Oregon side as an excellent location for high-quality wine grapes. The appellation became official in 1984.
Yamhill-Carlton
Yamhill-Carlton
Established: 2004
Total Area: 58,100 acres (23,500 ha)
Planted Area: 2,405 acres (970 ha)
Predominant Soils: Marine sedimentary (Willakenzie series)
Predominant Varieties: Pinot noir, Pinot gris and Chardonnay
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The Yamhill-Carlton AVA is contained within the Willamette Valley AVA and is located 35 miles (56 km) southwest of Portland and 40 miles (64 km) east of the Pacific Ocean. The region is bordered by the Coast Range to the west, Chehalem Mountains to the north and the Dundee Hills to the east. These barriers provide protective cover from extreme weather resulting in warmer temperatures and the earliest harvest dates in the Willamette Valley. The warmer mesoclimate produces ripe, texturally driven wine with an abundance of spice and floral qualities layered onto dark fruit flavors.
Yamhill-Carlton has the oldest soil and parent material in the Willamette Valley. It is comprised of coarse grained ancient marine sediments that drain quickly, making it ideal for viticulture. The dominant soil series above the siltstone and sandstone parent material are Melbourne, Wellsdale and Goodin with lesser influences of Dupee and Willakenzie.
Region History:
Yamhill-Carlton was once known for fruit tree orchards, nurseries, livestock, wheat fields and logging. In 1974, the pioneers Pat and Joe Campbell planted Elk Cove Vineyard and Roy and Betty Wahle planted Wahle Vineyard. Elk Cove went on to produce the first commercial wine from the area.
The Yamhill-Carlton American Viticultural Area was officially established in 2005.
The Yamhill-Carlton Winegrowers Association initiated, and in concert with Chemeketa College curriculum writers, Future Farmers of America Alumnae and the Yamhill-Carlton School District created the first high school viticulture program in the United States that include a commercial vineyard at the school and college level accreditation for all coursework. The association also funds college scholarships for students in the program.
Willamette Valley
Willamette Valley
Celebrated, renowned, exquisite. Oregon’s Willamette Valley is synonymous with glorious Pinot noir—not surprising given the optimal conditions in this storied stretch of land for growing the fickle grape. But those conditions weren’t immediately apparent to everyone. It took the knowledge, vision, courage and experimentation of pioneers like David Lett and Charles Coury to put the Willamette Valley on the winegrowing map. And that facile equation—Willamette equals Pinot—can obscure an important point: no grape variety is as reflective of climatic and site differences as Pinot noir, and small distances in the valley can yield wines of distinctively different character, each captivating in its own way. Add to that the fact that roughly 30% of the Valley’s grapes are now other white and red varieties that also thrive in the region, and you just begin to understand how remarkable—and remarkably prolific—this region is.
Established: 1983
Total Area: 3,428,800 acres (1,387,600 ha)
Planted Area: 25,450 acres (10,300 ha)*
Predominant Soils: Marine sedimentary, volcanic, loess
Predominant Varieties: Pinot noir, Pinot gris, Chardonnay, Riesling
*Updated Feb. 2021
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The Willamette Valley runs from the Columbia River in Portland south through Salem to the Calapooya Mountains outside Eugene. It is 150 miles (240 km) long and up to 60 miles (97 km) wide making it Oregon’s largest AVA. The Willamette Valley has the largest concentration of wineries and vineyards in Oregon and includes six appellations within its borders: Chehalem Mountains, Dundee Hills, Eola-Amity Hills, McMinnville, Ribbon Ridge and Yamhill-Carlton.
The Willamette Valley is protected by the Coast Range to the west, the Cascades to the east. Its namesake, the Willamette River, runs through its heart. The largest concentration of vineyards are located to the west of this river, on the leeward slopes of the Coast Range, or among the valleys created by the river’s tributaries.
The Willamette Valley floor is a former seabed that has been overlaid with nutrient-rich gravel, silt, rock and boulders brought by the formidable Missoula Floods from Montana and Washington during the Ice Age between 15,000 and 18,000 years ago. Missoula Flood soils are great for growing crops such as grass seed, hazelnuts and berries but are not ideal for grapegrowing. Therefore, most vineyards are planted above 200 feet (60 m) elevation on volcanic, marine sedimentary or wind-blown loess soil, which all contribute to good grapegrowing conditions.
Climate in this region is relatively mild throughout the year, with cool, wet winters and warm, dry summers. It is one of the coolest winegrowing regions in North America while enjoying extended daylight hours during the growing season. During this longer growing season, the Willamette Valley has warm days and cool nights, a diurnal temperature swing that allows the wine grapes to develop flavor and complexity while retaining their natural acidity. This temperate climate, combined with coastal marine influences, make the gentle growing conditions within the Valley ideal for cool climate grapes, including the Pinot noir for which the region is famous.
Vineyards planted in complex soils, influenced by a cool climate result in wines with pure expressions of terroir. Wines have fully developed fruit flavors that are balanced by bright acidity and freshness.
Region history:
Modern winemaking in the Willamette Valley dates back more than 50 years with the genius of three UC Davis refugees who believed that Oregon was an ideal place to grow cool-climate varieties. Between 1965 and 1968, David Lett, Charles Coury and Dick Erath separately forged their way to the north Willamette Valley despite negative rumblings from their UC Davis cohorts who told them it was impossible to grow wine grapes in Oregon. Lett’s 1965 plantings were the first Pinot noir vines to be rooted in the Willamette Valley. They also planted small amounts of related varieties, including Pinot gris, Chardonnay and Riesling. These intrepid pioneers wholeheartedly believed that Oregon would one day become an important winegrowing region, and other believers were not far behind. Within the next decade, David and Ginny Adelsheim, Ron and Marjorie Vuylsteke, Dick and Nancy Ponzi, Joe and Pat Campbell, Bill and Susan Sokol Blosser and Myron Redford all planted vineyards in the Willamette Valley.
The Willamette Valley’s early pioneers worked in a collaborative spirit, sharing advice, humor and encouragement, as they began writing history by producing superior wines in Oregon. It wasn’t until David Lett entered his 1975 Reserve Pinot noir in the 1979 Gault-Millau French Wine Olympiad and placed in the top 10 in a blind tasting among the finest Burgundies that the world started to take notice of Oregon as a serious winemaking region. The Willamette Valley became an official AVA in 1983, and today it is recognized as one of the premier wine producing regions in the world.
Walla Walla Valley
Walla Walla Valley
Situated along latitude 46° N, midway between Bordeaux and Burgundy, the Walla Walla Valley AVA lies on a bedrock of fractured basalt laid down 15 million years ago, its soils composed of the sand and gravel discarded by ancient floods, layered by wind-deposited silts. Those soils produce not only juicy strawberries and sumptuous sweet onions, but also some of the finest Cabernets, Merlots and Syrahs in the world, which are increasingly making their way onto top wine lists nationally and internationally. In the land of “many waters,” this oasis amid the vast sagebrush desert that rolls across America’s northwest interior, winegrowers are working their craft, from the foothills of the spectacular Blue Mountains to the arid regions of the valley’s west, building on a history almost four decades long and spanning the two states of Oregon and Washington.
Established: 1984
Total Area: 359,600 acres (145,525 ha)
Planted Area: 2,930 acres (1,185 ha) total, 1,260 acres (510 ha) in Oregon*
Predominant Soils: Volcanic, Missoula flood sediments, loess, cobbles
Predominant Varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Merlot
*Updated November 1, 2018
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Located about 250 miles (400 km) east of Portland, the Walla Walla Valley AVA straddles southeast Washington State and northeast Oregon. It is contained within the Columbia Valley appellation. Vineyards are hemmed in by the Blue Mountains to the southeast, the Palouse to the north and the Columbia River westward. Elevations across the valley soar between 400 and 2,000 feet (120-610 m) above sea level creating many micro-climates.
Located far from the marine influences of the Pacific Ocean, the Walla Walla Valley is the warmest growing region in Oregon, making it ideal for warm-weather varieties like Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Dry July and August heat provides a vibrant core of ripeness in the berries, while the chill of September nights assures the acidic backbone necessary for creating superb wines.
There are four distinct soil terroirs in the Walla Walla Valley: loess (wind-deposited silt) overlying Missoula flood sediments, thick loess overlying basalt bedrock, basalt cobblestone gravels and very thin loess on basalt bedrock.
The warm growing season temperatures, low rainfall and complex soils lead to complex, full-bodied wines.
Region History:
It is believed that winegrowing in the Walla Walla Valley dates back to the 1920s, although the modern-day wine industry began in the 1970s when childhood friends Gary Figgins of Leonetti Cellar and Rick Small of Woodward Canyon Winery began conducting oenological experiments in Rick’s garage. They soon began growing grapes in the Valley, and subsequently founded their wineries in 1977 and 1981, respectively. L’Ecole No. 41 was established soon after, in 1983. The Walla Walla Valley was officially designated as an AVA in 1984, but it took another decade for the growth spurt to begin. At the turn of the millennium, more than 50 wineries called the Valley home, and today that number has grown to more than 100. In 2015, a sub-section of the Walla Walla Valley called The Rocks District of Milton-Freewater was approved as an AVA.
Umpqua Valley
Umpqua Valley
Established: 1984
Total Area: 693,300 acres (280,600 ha)
Planted Area: 3,605 acres (1,460 ha)*
Predominant Soils: Stream sediments, marine sedimentary bedrock, volcanic
Predominant Varieties: Pinot noir, Pinot gris, Syrah, Tempranillo, Merlot, Albariño
*Updated Feb. 2021
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The Umpqua Valley AVA sits between the Coast Range to the west and the Cascade Range to the east, with the Willamette Valley AVA to the north and the Rogue Valley AVA to the south. The appellation stretches 65 miles (105 km) from north to south, and is 25 miles (40 km) wide east to west.
The complex topography of the Umpqua Valley is a result of the collision of three mountain ranges of varying age and structure: the Klamath Mountains, the Coast Range and the Cascades. Many say the area should not be thought of as a single valley, but rather “The Hundred Valleys of the Umpqua” because it is made up of a series of interconnecting small mountain ranges and valleys.
One of Oregon’s more diverse climates, the Umpqua Valley can successfully grow both cool and warm varieties. It comprises three distinct climatic sub-zones:
- The northern area around the town of Elkton, which enjoys a cool, marine-influenced climate and receives around 50 inches (125 cm) of annual rainfall, making irrigation unnecessary. Pinot noir and other cool-climate varieties thrive here.
- The central area to the northwest of Roseburg, which has a transitional, or intermediate, climate where both cool and warm varieties do quite well.
- The area south of Roseburg, which is warmer and more arid, similar to Rogue and Applegate Valleys to the south. Warm-climate varieties, including Tempranillo, Syrah and Merlot thrive here. Growing season temperatures vary dramatically from north to south.
Umpqua Valley soils are as varied as the climate. Generally, they are derived from a mix of stream sediments, marine sedimentary and volcanic rock, though more than 150 soil types have been identified in the region.
The diversity of this region has inspired a culture of experimentation with varieties not grown elsewhere in Oregon: Garnacha, Albariño, Malbec, Petit Verdot and more.
Region History:
The Umpqua Valley’s winegrowing history dates back to the 1880s when German immigrants who had worked for the Beringer Bros., the oldest continuously operating vineyard in Napa, planted the first wine grape vineyard in the Valley. Post-Prohibition, Richard Sommer established HillCrest Vineyard near Roseburg in 1961. He was the first to plant Pinot noir in Oregon despite being told by his UC Davis cohorts that it was impossible to successfully grow wine grapes in Oregon. During the 1970s, new wineries opened, including Henry Estate Winery, whose winemaker Scott Henry developed a now world-famous vine trellis system, which increases grape yield, among other benefits. The Umpqua Valley appellation continues to evolve as new winemakers discover the area, bringing with them a passion for innovation and world-class wine. The Umpqua Valley appellation became official in 1984.
