Appellation · United States
Columbia Valley
The vast, arid AVA covering most of Washington State’s vineyards, east of the Cascade rain shadow.
Deeply coloured Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah with substantial fruit and acidity that survives the ripeness. Riesling that ranges from dry to off-dry and is far better than its reputation.
About Columbia Valley
Washington reds combine New World ripeness with noticeably firmer acidity and structure than California, a product of the extreme diurnal swing.
Walla Walla Valley, Red Mountain and Yakima Valley are the leading sub-AVAs, with Red Mountain producing the most tannic wines in the state.
It sits in the rain shadow of the Cascades, and the difference is stark: Seattle receives roughly ten times the rainfall. Almost all vineyards are irrigated from the Columbia River, which means water is a decision rather than a weather event and vintage variation is correspondingly small.
The region lies at roughly 46°N — the latitude of Burgundy and Bordeaux — so summer days are long, and the combination of long daylight, hot days and cold desert nights produces deeply coloured, high-acid fruit that is unusual for a warm region. Winter freeze, not summer heat, is the real hazard.
What the name means
- Legal name
- Columbia Valley AVA
- Type
- American Viticultural Area (AVA)
- Set by
- Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB)
- Recognised
- 1984
- Regulates
- Origin only. It sets no rules about varieties, yields, ageing or winemaking.
Only where the grapes were grown, plus the percentage that must come from the named area. An AVA sets no varietal, yield, ageing or winemaking rules whatsoever — the single most commonly misunderstood fact about US wine labels.
Grapes
Wines from here
Climate
- Latitude
- 46.3° N
- Temperature
- Warm
- Day–night swing
- Very wide
- Rainfall
- Falls mostly in winter
- Frost risk
- High
- Drought risk
- High
A desert in the Cascade rain shadow. The hazard here is winter freeze severe enough to kill vines outright, not the summer heat.
Desert conditions: very low rainfall, irrigation essential, hot days and cold nights, and long summer daylight hours from the northerly latitude.
Vintage variation
Vintage matters somewhat
A dependable climate with occasional difficult years. Most vintages are broadly similar; the exceptions are the ones worth knowing about.
- Latitude. At around 46°, ripeness is usually reached but is not a formality.
- Rainfall timing. The rain arrives outside the growing season, so harvest is usually dry. This removes the largest single source of vintage variation.
- Spring frost. A frost after budburst destroys the shoots carrying that year’s crop. The vine regrows, but the secondary buds are less fruitful, so the effect is a small vintage rather than a poor one.
- Rain shadow. Mountains intercept the rain before it arrives, which makes the growing season dry and predictable — and usually means irrigation decides water supply rather than weather.
- Continental influence. No large body of water to buffer the extremes. Continental places have hotter summers, colder winters and sharper frost risk, all of which widen the gap between years.
Derived from the climate above, not from anyone’s view of particular years. Why there are no vintage scores here.
These are influences on how a wine turns out, not determinants of it. Picking date, yield, vine age and every winemaking decision sit between the climate and the glass.
Places within it
- Horse Heaven Hills — South-facing slopes above the Columbia River, warmed and wind-scoured, and a major source of Washington’s best-known vineyards.
- Red Mountain — Washington’s smallest and hottest AVA — a south-west-facing slope producing the state’s most tannic Cabernet Sauvignon.
- Walla Walla Valley — Washington’s most celebrated sub-AVA, straddling the Oregon border, with a famous stony sub-district called The Rocks.
- Yakima Valley — Washington’s first AVA and its largest planted area, containing several more specific sub-appellations.
What to eat, and how to serve it
Derived from this region’s signature styles. Each is listed separately, because a region does not have one serving temperature.
Washington Cabernet Sauvignon
Serve at 16–18°C (cool room temperature).
Try with roast chicken, fillet steak or grilled chicken.
Sources
Sources consulted
- American Viticultural Areas (AVAs) — Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), US Department of the Treasury