![]() Some scattered grape growers stayed afloat during this period selling grapes to home winemakers but nearly all the state's commercial wines went out of business. Washington was one of the first states to usher in the start of Prohibition, going dry in 1917 and shutting down most of the state's wine production. The first people who were definitely known to produce wine were German and Italian immigrants who planted their wine grapes in Washington during the 1860s and 1870s. A majority of these wineries participate in the Southwest Washington Winery Association. ![]() ![]() Currently, a number of wineries and vineyards operate in the region near Fort Vancouver in Clark County, Cowlitz County, and parts of Skamania County and Lewis County. The earliest grape vines planted in Washington State were at Fort Vancouver in 1825 by traders working for the Hudson's Bay Company but it is not known for sure whether the wine was ever produced from these plantings. ![]() Helens AVA covering parts of Clark County, Cowlitz County, Skamania County and Lewis County. Although currently (April, 2023) Washington's only AVA located west of the Cascades is the Puget Sound AVA, a petition has been submitted to have a new American Viticultural Area be recognized as the Mt. The Columbia Gorge AVA is west of the Columbia Valley AVA. These include the Lewis-Clark AVA, the Ancient Lakes AVA, Walla Walla Valley AVA, which encompasses Oregon's The Rocks District of Milton-Freewater AVA, Horse Heaven Hills AVA, the Wahluke Slope AVA, Lake Chelan AVA, Naches Heights AVA, and the Yakima Valley AVA, which in turn also encompasses the Rattlesnake Hills AVA, Snipes Mountain AVA, the Red Mountain AVA, and the Candy Mountain AVA. The largest AVA is the Columbia Valley AVA, which extends into a small portion of northern Oregon and encompasses most of the other Washington AVAs. Washington has twenty federally defined American Viticultural Areas with all but one located in Eastern Washington. Throughout the rest of the 20th century, the wine world discovered a new aspect of Washington wines with each passing decade – starting with Rieslings and Chardonnays in the 1970s, the Merlot craze of the 1980s and the emergence of Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah in the 1990s. Michelle and Columbia Winery) were founded. In the 1950s and 1960s, the precursors of the state's biggest wineries ( Chateau Ste. The early history of the Washington wine industry can be traced to the introduction of Cinsault grapes by Italian immigrants to the Walla Walla region. Viticulture in the state is also influenced by long sunlight hours (on average, two more hours a day than in California during the growing season) and consistent temperatures. The rain shadow of the Cascade Range leaves the Columbia River Basin with around 8 inches (200 mm) of annual rain fall, making irrigation and water rights of paramount interest to the Washington wine industry. While there are some viticultural activities in the cooler, wetter western half of the state, the majority (99.9%) of wine grape production takes place in the shrub-steppe eastern half. By 2017, the state had over 55,000 acres (220 km 2) of vineyards, a harvest of 229,000 short tons (208,000 t) of grapes, and exports going to over 40 countries around the world from the 940+ wineries located in the state. Washington ranks second in the United States (behind California) in the production of wine. ![]() Washington wine is a wine produced from grape varieties grown in the U.S. An assortment of Washington wines from Walla Walla and Red Mountain AVAsĬolumbia Gorge AVA, Columbia Valley AVA, Ancient Lakes AVA, Lake Chelan AVA, Horse Heaven Hills AVA, Puget Sound AVA, Rattlesnake Hills AVA, Red Mountain AVA, Wahluke Slope AVA, Walla Walla Valley AVA, Yakima Valley AVA, Naches Heights AVA, Snipes Mountain AVA, Lewis-Clark Valley AVAĪligoté, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Carménère, Chardonnay, Chenin blanc, Gewürztraminer, Grenache, Lemberger, Léon Millot, Madeleine Angevine, Madeleine Sylvaner, Malbec, Marechal Foch, Merlot, Müller-Thurgau, Muscat Canelli, Muscat Ottonel, Petit Verdot, Pinot blanc, Pinot gris, Pinot noir, Riesling, Roussanne, Sangiovese, Sauvignon blanc, Sémillon, Siegerrebe, Syrah, Viognier, Zinfandel ![]()
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