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Yakima Valley is the first American Viticultural Area (AVA) established 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 ...
on April 3, 1983 by the
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE), commonly referred to as ATF, is a domestic law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice. Its responsibilities include the investigation and prevention ...
(ATF),
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 ...
after reviewing the petition submitted by the Yakima Valley Appellation Committee to propose a viticultural area named "Yakima Valley." The area petitioned is a valley centered around the
Yakima River The Yakima River is a tributary of the Columbia River in south central and eastern Washington state, named for the indigenous Yakama people. Lewis and Clark mention in their journals that the Chin-nâm pam (or the Lower Snake River Chamnapam N ...
in south
central Washington Central Washington is a region of the U.S. state of Washington between the western and eastern parts of the state extending from the border with the Canadian province of British Columbia in the north to the border with the U.S. state of Oregon i ...
. The Yakima Yalley geographically is nearly long and wide at its widest point and encompassed approximately . Currently within the vast
Columbia Valley AVA Columbia Valley is an American Viticultural Area, American Viticultural Area (AVA) which lies within the Columbia River Plateau, through much of central and southern Washington (state), Washington state, with a section crossing the state bounda ...
, the Yakima Valley appellation cultivates more than giving the region the largest concentration of wineries and vineyards in the state. The most widely planted varietals in the area are
Chardonnay Chardonnay (, ; ) is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand. For new a ...
,
Riesling Riesling ( , ) is a white grape variety that originated in the Rhine region. Riesling is an aromatic grape variety displaying flowery, almost perfumed, aromas as well as high acidity. It is used to make dry, semi-sweet, sweet, and sparkling ...
,
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 ...
,
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 ...
,
Pinot gris Pinot gris, pinot grigio (, ), or ''Grauburgunder'' is a 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 name, but th ...
, and
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 ...
. Nearly 40% of Washington's annual wine production is made from Yakima Valley grapes. In addition to grapes, the Yakima Valley is also home to several fruit orchards growing
apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...
s,
cherries A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit). Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet ''Prunus avium'' and the sour ''Prunus cerasus''. The name ...
,
nectarine The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and cultivated in China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and the glossy-skinned, non-fuzzy varieties called nectarines. Peach ...
s,
peach The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and Agriculture, cultivated in China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and the glossy-skinned, non-fuzzy varieties called necta ...
es,
pear Pears are fruits produced and consumed around the world, growing on a tree and harvested in late summer into mid-autumn. The pear tree and shrub are a species of genus ''Pyrus'' , in the Family (biology), family Rosaceae, bearing the Pome, po ...
s and
plum A plum is a fruit of some species in Prunus subg. Prunus, ''Prunus'' subg. ''Prunus'.'' Dried plums are often called prunes, though in the United States they may be labeled as 'dried plums', especially during the 21st century. Plums are ...
s. Around the town of Zillah, there is th
Zillah Fruit Loop
driving tour through the area's orchards and vineyards. The area is also home to nearly 80% of the US hop production. In July 2024, the Yakima Valley was named best wine region in the U.S. by readers of USA Today.https://10best.usatoday.com/awards/travel/best-wine-region-2024/


History

A French
winemaker A winemaker or vintner is a person engaged in winemaking. They are generally employed by wineries or wine companies, where their work includes: *Cooperating with viticulturists *Monitoring the maturity of grapes to ensure their quality and to de ...
from Alsace-Lorraine named Charles Schanno is credited with planting the first valley vines in 1869. Schanno purchased the cuttings from a vineyard in
The Dalles, Oregon The Dalles ( ;) formally the City of the Dalles and also called Dalles City, is an inland port, the county seat of and the largest city in Wasco County, Oregon, Wasco County, Oregon, United States. The population was 16,010 at the 2020 United ...
and the
Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), originally the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay, is a Canadian holding company of department stores, and the oldest corporation in North America. It was the owner of the ...
outpost at
Fort Vancouver Fort Vancouver was a 19th-century fur trading post built in the winter of 1824–1825. It was the headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company's Columbia Department, located in the Pacific Northwest. Named for Captain George Vancouver, the fort was ...
. In the early 1900s, an attorney from
Tacoma Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, northwest of Mount ...
named William B. Bridgeman, a Sunnyside farmer and grapegrower, pioneered the modern wine industry in the Yakima Valley introducing " Island Belle" grapes. Bridgeman helped draft some of the state's earliest irrigation laws for wine growing and planted his first vineyard in 1914. Many of the vineyards established in the Yakima Valley during this period came from Bridgeman's cuttings. Concord grapes became the dominant grape throughout Washington State. However, they are not wine grapes and were processed at grape juice plants at Grandview, Washington and Prosser, Washington. In 1917, the
Washington State Legislature The Washington State Legislature is the state legislature of the State of Washington. It is a bicameral body, composed of the lower Washington House of Representatives, composed of 98 representatives, and the upper Washington State Senate, w ...
passed an act setting aside of
sagebrush Sagebrush is the common name of several woody and herbaceous species of plants in the genus ''Artemisia (plant), Artemisia''. The best-known sagebrush is the shrub ''Artemisia tridentata''. Sagebrush is native to the western half of North Amer ...
desert near Prosser to become an agriculture research center known as the Irrigation Branch Experiment Station (today known as the Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center, and operated jointly by
Washington State University Washington State University (WSU, or colloquially Wazzu) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Pullman, Washington, United States. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest Land-grant uni ...
and the
USDA The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commerc ...
). The first crop was of apples used in an irrigation study. Following the
Repeal A repeal (O.F. ''rapel'', modern ''rappel'', from ''rapeler'', ''rappeler'', revoke, ''re'' and ''appeler'', appeal) is the removal or reversal of a law. There are two basic types of repeal; a repeal with a re-enactment is used to replace the law ...
of
Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...
, Bridgman opened Upland Winery and hired Erich Steenborg as winemaker. Together they determined that the Yakima Valley was better suited for wine growing than central France and were influential in promoting the use of
varietal A varietal wine is a wine made primarily from a single named grape variety, and which typically displays the name of that variety on the wine label.The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, 2000.winepros.com.au. ...
labelling Labelling or using a label is describing someone or something in a word or short phrase. For example, the label "criminal" may be used to describe someone who has broken a law. Labelling theory is a theory in sociology which ascribes labelling ...
in the Yakima Valley including the state's first dry Riesling. In 1937, the research center hired Walter Clore as an assistant
horticulturist Horticulture (from ) is the art and science of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, trees, shrubs and ornamental plants. Horticulture is commonly associated with the more professional and technical aspects of plant cultivation on a smaller and mo ...
. Under Clore's guidance, the center expanded into grape growing with ''
Vitis labrusca ''Vitis labrusca'', the fox grape, is a species of grapevines belonging to the ''Vitis'' genus in the flowering plant family Vitaceae. The vines are native to eastern North America and are the source of many grape cultivars, including Catawba, ...
'', ''
Vitis vinifera ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, is a species of flowering plant, native to the Mediterranean Basin, Mediterranean region, Central Europe, and southwestern Asia, from Morocco and Portugal north to southern Germany and east to northern ...
'' and American hybrid grape plantings. Research from the center would become vital to the growing Washington wine industry where the state counted 42 wineries, the largest of which was in the Yakima Valley. In the 1950’s, Dr. Lloyd Woodbume, a professor at the
University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...
in
Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
, began to produce home wines made from Washington State grapes. Other members of the University faculty joined him and in 1961 they incorporated and planted five acres of Pinot Noir and other Vinifera at Sunnyside adjacent to Bridgman’s vineyard. Their group eventually became Associated Vineyards which released their first wines to the public in 1968. With demand for their Yakima Valley wines growing, they planted 20 more acres at Sunnyside, including Cabernet, Pinot Noir, Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Semilion, and Chardonnay. During the 1970’s, additional acreage of Vinifera grapes were planted throughout Yakima Valley. In the 1980s, along with the rest of the Washington wine industry, the Yakima Valley saw a boom in the plantings of new vineyards and the openings of new wineries such as Hogue Cellars and Covey Run both opening in 1982, followed by Chinook Wines in 1983. By then, there were approximately under vine in the valley. This includes of Vinifera varieties, with the remainder being Concord, White Diamond, and Island Belle. Grapes are planted in nearly every location in the valley where irrigation is available, although the majority of the Vinifera grapes are planted on the south facing slopes of the Rattlesnake Hills, Red Mountain, Snipes Mountain and on the steeper north banks of the Yakima River. There are six bonded wineries in the Yakima Valley and the term Yakima Valley has been used since 1967 as an appellation of origin for wines made from Yakima Valley grapes.


Terroir


Topography

The Yakima Valley appellation boundaries has the Rattlesnake Hills to the north, the
Horse Heaven Hills The Horse Heaven Hills are a long range of high, rolling hills in Klickitat, Yakima, and Benton counties in Washington. The hills are an anticline ridge in the Yakima Fold Belt formed by north–south compression of lava flows in the Columb ...
to the south and Red Mountain forming parts of its eastern boundaries. To the west, the
Cascade Range The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington (state), Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as m ...
forms a natural border and creates a
rain shadow A rain shadow is an area of significantly reduced rainfall behind a mountainous region, on the side facing away from prevailing winds, known as its leeward side. Evaporated moisture from body of water, bodies of water (such as oceans and larg ...
over the area which requires the use of
irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering of plants) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has bee ...
in
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 ...
. The appellation encompasses mostly contained within
Yakima County, Washington Yakima County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 256,728. The county seat and most populous city is Yakima, Washington, Ya ...
with the eastern edge extending into Benton County. The cities of
Yakima Yakima ( or ) is a city in and the county seat of Yakima County, Washington, United States, and the state's 11th most populous city. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 96,968 and a metropolitan population of 256,728. The ...
and Prosser are the main commercial centers with many wineries located in their vicinities. To the west, Mount Adams dominates the landscape along with the
Yakima River The Yakima River is a tributary of the Columbia River in south central and eastern Washington state, named for the indigenous Yakama people. Lewis and Clark mention in their journals that the Chin-nâm pam (or the Lower Snake River Chamnapam N ...
on its eastward flow to the
Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook language, Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin language, Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river headwater ...
.


Climate

The climate of Yakima Valley is a distinguishing factor of the viticultural area. In general, the mountains to the west experience significantly cooler temperatures while Yakima Valley is not as warm as areas to the north and east. Within Yakima Valley, the climate averages Region II on the scale developed by Winkler and Amerine of the
University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Davis, California, United States. It is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University ...
to measure
degree days A degree day is a measure of heating or cooling. Total degree days from an appropriate starting date are used to plan the planting of crops and management of pest (animal), pests and pest control timing. Weekly or monthly degree-day figures may a ...
. Eight stations average 2641 degree days with individual readings of 2207 at Toppenish, 2436 at Prosser 2665 at Sunnyside, and the highest reading 3048 degree days at Wapato. The mountain areas to the west experience a much cooler climate; Tieton Dam averages 1150 degree days, Goldendale 1779, and Status Pass 1334 degree days. These mountainous areas are classified as Region I. The area to the north following the Yakima River is slightly cooler than the Yakima Valley.
Ellensburg Ellensburg is a city in and the county seat of Kittitas County, Washington, United States. It is located just east of the Cascade Range near the junction of Interstate 90 and Interstate 82. The population was 18,666 at the 2020 census. and was ...
experiences 1932 degree days, Yakima 2314, Naches Heights 2330, and Moxie 2574 degree days. In contrast to these cooler areas, the areas northeast, east and southeast of Yakima Valley experience a significantly hotter climate, and may be characterized as Region III. Individual degree day readings include 3231 at
Hanford Hanford may refer to: Places *Hanford (constituency), a constituency in Tuen Mun, People's Republic of China *Hanford, Dorset, a village and parish in England *Hanford, Staffordshire, England *Hanford, California, United States *Hanford, Iowa, ...
, 3720 at Priest Rapids Dam, 3890 at Richland 3094 at
Kennewick Kennewick () is a city in Benton County, Washington, Benton County in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. It is located along the southwest bank of the Columbia River, just southeast of the confluence of the Columbia and Yakima ...
and 3201 at McNary Dam. Rainfall in Yakima Valley is sparse. Eight reporting stations within the viticultural area average only 8.11 inches of precipitation per year with a range of 5.88 inches at Toppenish to .12.41 inches at Fort Simcoe. The mean average growing season (28 degree base) for four stations in Yakima Valley is 190 days, ranging from 184 days at White Swan to 196 days at Benton City. Overall, the temperature of the Yakima Valley is more temperate than the rest of the greater Columbia Valley AVA, with average temperatures being cooler.


Vineyards

The Yakima Valley AVA is home to some of the state's oldest vineyards with nearly every major Washington wine maker securing at least some of their grapes from this appellation. Red Willow Vineyard near Wapato stands at the highest point in the Yakima Valley AVA at
above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...
. The vineyard is known as the primary grape supplier to Columbia Winery. It was from this vineyard that winemaker David Lake produced the first Syrah in Washington state. Chardonnay is a popular planting in this cool climate appellation with most wine growers preferring a single clonal variety. Nearly any grape can ripen at some location within this diverse AVA. The most sought after sites are located on the eastern edge of the AVA near Red Mountain, Prosser and Benton City. Yakima Valley also includes Boushey Vineyard, ranked as one of the top vineyards in Washington State.


Sub-appellations

As the Washington wine industry discovers its many distinct ''
terroir (; ; from ''terre'', ) is a French language, French term used to describe the environmental factors that affect a crop's phenotype, including unique environment contexts, farming practices and a crop's specific growth habitat. Collectively, th ...
s'', five local appellations were recognized for areas within Yakima Valley possessing unique
microclimate A microclimate (or micro-climate) is a local set of atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric conditions that differ from those in the surrounding areas, often slightly but sometimes substantially. The term may refer to areas as small as a few square m ...
s and soil conditions producing different vintages from neighboring areas. The Red Mountain appellation was established in 2001, Rattlesnake Hills in 2006, Snipes Mountain in 2009, Candy Mountain in 2020 and Goose Gap in 2022.


References


External links


Yakima Valley Wine Region

TTB AVA Map
{{portal bar, Drink American Viticultural Areas of Washington (state) Geography of Benton County, Washington Geography of Yakima County, Washington 1983 establishments in Washington (state)