Naches Heights is an American Viticultural Area (AVA) in Yakima County, Washington. The AVA was recognized officially by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau {TTB),

Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry; in a business context, corporate treasury. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be ...

on January 13, 2012 after reviewing the petition submitted by R. Paul Beveridge, owner of Wilridge Winery and Vineyard, to establish the viticultural area named "Naches Heights." The AVA is located entirely within the vast Columbia Valley AVA with the city of Yakima to the southeast in a valley at a lower elevation. The Naches Heights appellation encompasses and contains of commercial vineyards either producing or expecting to produce wine grapes in the foreseeable future. Additionally, it is the first AVA in

Washington state Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named after George Washington ...

to be fully

sustainable Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...

, with all 7 vineyards practicing in either biodynamic or LIVE (Low Input

Viticulture Viticulture (, "vine-growing"), viniculture (, "wine-growing"), or winegrowing is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine ...

and Enology) certification. At the recognition date, only were under vine, making the AVA the smallest planted wine region in Washington.

Name

The "Naches Heights" name applies to an elevated plateau area in Yakima County, Washington, according to the petition and

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an government agency, agency of the United States Department of the Interior, U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geograp ...

maps. The USGS topographical maps of Naches, Selah, Yakima West, and Wiley City are used in the written boundary description in the petition to define the boundary of the viticultural area. The area between the Naches River and Cowiche Creek is identified as "Naches Heights" on the USGS maps as well as on a public lands map (Yakima Public Lands Quadrangle map, 2001, Washington State Department of Natural Resources), according to the petition.

Geography and Climate

Naches Heights is a plateau, ranging from to . The soil is primarily volcanic

loess A loess (, ; from ) is a clastic rock, clastic, predominantly silt-sized sediment that is formed by the accumulation of wind-blown dust. Ten percent of Earth's land area is covered by loesses or similar deposition (geology), deposits. A loess ...

. It is west of the city of Yakima. Grapes in this area must be irrigated.

Vineyards

The appellation's vineyards include Wilridge Vineyard, Naches Heights Vineyard, Strand Vineyard, Treveri Vineyard, Keller Vineyard, and Kalkruth Vineyard. Wilridge Vineyard is owned by Wilridge Winery of Seattle with currently cultivated. Naches Heights Vineyards was the first vineyard in this area. Wilridge Winery established the first winery and the first tasting room in the area. In 2017, Wilridge established the first distillery in the AVA.

Grape varieties grown in Naches Heights AVA

The grape varieties currently grown in this AVA include: * Five red

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

varieties;

Cabernet Franc Cabernet Franc is one of the major black grape varieties worldwide. It is principally grown for blending with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in the Bordeaux (wine), Bordeaux style, but can also be vinified alone, as in the Loire (wine), Loire's C ...

Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Sauvignon () is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Australia and British Columbia, Canada to Lebano ...

Malbec Malbec () is a purple grape variety used in making red wine. The grapes tend to have an inky dark color and robust tannins, and are known as one of the six grapes allowed in the blend of red Bordeaux wine. In France, plantations of Malbec are ...

Merlot Merlot ( ) is a dark-blue-colored wine grape variety that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name ''Merlot'' is thought to be a diminutive of , the French name for the blackbird, probably a reference to the color ...

and Petite Verdot * Two white Bordeaux varieties; Semillon and

Sauvignon blanc Sauvignon blanc () is a green-skinned grape variety that originates from the city of Bordeaux in France. The grape most likely gets its name from the French words ''sauvage'' ("wild") and ''blanc'' ("white") due to its early origins as an ind ...

* Three Rhone varieties;

Syrah Syrah (), also known as Shiraz, is a dark-skinned grape variety grown throughout the world and used primarily to produce red wine. In 1999, Syrah was found to be the offspring of two obscure grapes from southeastern France, Dureza and Mondeuse ...

, Mourvedre and

Viognier Viognier () is a white wine grape variety. It is the only permitted grape for the French wine Condrieu AOC, Condrieu in the Rhone Valley (wine), Rhône Valley.J. Robinson ''The Oxford Companion to Wine'', Third Edition, p. 754, Oxford Univers ...

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

varietals; Barbera, Gewurtztraminer,

Nebbiolo Nebbiolo (, ; ) is an Italian red wine grape variety predominantly associated with its native Piedmont region, where it makes the ''Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita'' (DOCG) wines of Barolo, Barbaresco, Gattinara, Ghemme, a ...

Sangiovese Sangiovese is a red Italian wine grape variety that derives its name from the Latin , "blood of Jove, Jupiter". Sangiovese Grosso, used for traditionally powerful and slow maturing red wines, is primarily grown in the central regions of Italy ...

, Sagrantino and

Pinot grigio Pinot gris, pinot grigio (, ), or ''Grauburgunder'' is a white wine , white wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. Thought to be a mutant clone of the pinot noir variety, it normally has a pinkish-gray hue, accounting for its ...

* One of the Muscat grapes called White Muscat (also known as Muscat Canelli, Moscato, or Muscat de Petite Grains), * Four Portuguese varieties; Souzao, Tinta Cao, Touriga Nacional, and Tinta Roriz.

References

External links

TTB AVA Map
{{DEFAULTSORT:Naches Heights AVA American Viticultural Areas of Washington (state) 2012 establishments in Washington (state)