The Region

Yakima Valley Wine Region

Daniel Hoey
Publisher, All About The Grape
YakimaYakima Valley was the first American Viticultural Area (AVA) established within Washington State, achieving the designation in 1983.  It is part of the larger Columbia AVA, and produces or supplies the grapes for over 40% of wine coming from the state of Washington.
Buffered from the rain by the Cascade Mountains, the Yakima Valley has the perfect weather for grape growing. The most common varieties of grapes in the area are Riesling, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah.
The first vineyards were planted in 1869 by a French winemaker.  The real resurgence began in the 1980s as new wineries multiplied, notably Hogue Cellars and Covey Run which both opened in 1982.  In addition to having more than 11,000 acres of vineyards, Yakima Valley produces nearly 80% of hop production in the U.S. and is has a number of fruit orchards.  The “Zillah Fruit Loop” goes around the town of Zillah and is a tour of the area’s orchards and vineyards. Read more...

The basics of decanting old and young red wines.

Decanting has two purposes: The first is to remove the sediment from a wine, and the second is allowing the wine to breathe. This typically applies to red wines as white wines do not usually need to be decanted.

Learn About the Grape with winemaker Matthew Loso

We were in Walla Walla, Washington right after a harvest that was sped along dramatically by a frost the previous week. I met with Matthew Loso, award-winning Washington state winemaker, and talked with him about harvest – the “crush”.

Top Ten Wine Destinations for 2012

Where people are planning to wine tour and taste in the coming year

A recent survey of U.S. respondents found 48 percent planned to visit a U.S. vineyard in 2012. The top ten planned destinations were:

How to Pair Wine with Chicken

When pairing wine with food, it is much more critical that you think about the sauce than the particular kind of meat. For example, because chicken is a light white meat...