Pacific Northwest Wine: An Overview

Geography, climate and weather top the list of most influential factors when deciding where to plant a vineyard.  In the Pacific Northwest, a vast expanse that covers Washington, Oregon, Idaho and the Canadian province of British Columbia, there is a diversity of natural factors that allows for a broad range of grapes and wine. 

Wine-grape vineyards were planted in Washington in the late 19th century, around Walla Walla and the Yakima Valley.  During the same period, international varieties were introduced to Idaho and Oregon, but it wasn't until the 1960s when Pinot Noir was planted in the Willamette Valley.  During the same period, native North American grapes were replaced by vinifera, in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia.

Overall growth in planted vineyards in the PNW was gradual.  In terms of wineries, Washington led the way, until a few years ago, when Oregon, moved into first place with 1,116 wineries, compared to 1,050 for Washington.  British Columbia has a total of 338 wineries, most of them in the Okanagan Valley.  And, there are 65 wineries in Idaho.

Chateau Ste Michelle

Washington

Washington is known best for its red wine, although the start of the wine industry was in another direction.  In the late 19th century, European immigrants began  planting wine-grape vineyards around Walla Walla. In time, there was a mix of vinifera, hybrids and labrusca varieties like Concord.  Washington also went through a period of sweet dessert wine. 

Today, more than 80 varieties are grown, mainly in the Columbia Valley, with Cabernet Sauvignon accounting for 28% of the total.

The foundation of American wine making was historically based on a French model. But, when planning wine estates, French vintners did not consider geography, since vineyards were planted next to or close to the winery.  

That model didn't work in Washington, because  the state's vineyards are mostly in the warmer eastern Columbia Valley, while many of the wineries are across the Cascade Mountains, in western Washington.  Economics and open land are the main reasons for the separation.

In Bordeaux, vintners found the best place to grow Cabernet Sauvignon, then built a chateau-winery, next to the vineyard. Transportation for moving the wine to distant markets was convenient to the wine region.  In Washington, the major transportation hub is in Seattle, across the mountains and many miles from the Columbia Valley.

Washington wineries are grouped northeast of Seattle, in Woodinville, home of Ch. Ste. Michelle, the state's best known winery.  Walla Walla, a growing area in the southeast part of the state, includes the Rocks District of Milton-Freewater, located across the state line in Oregon.  Washington is the second largest wine producing state, after California.

Oregon

For years, Oregon winemakers felt the pressure of being squeezed by California, its dominant neighbor to the south and the rapidly growing presence of Washington, Oregon's northern neighbor.  And to make matters more difficult, Oregon wine was being portrayed as a "one trick pony."

Pressure aside, there was a solution on the horizon.  In 1965, Oregon wine pioneer, David Lett, led an exodus from California to Oregon's Willamette Valley, where they found the area ripe for Pinot Noir.  Lett helped build a nationwide reputation for Oregon Pinot Noir, and for that he became known as "Papa Pinot."   

Oregon Pinot became so admired that provincial Burgundian winemaker, Robert Drouhin, found Willamette to be the singular place to establish his name, outside Burgundy. 

Oregon white wine was more difficult to pin down.  Chardonnay, Pinot Noir's white partner, had middling success at first in the Willamette, as some winemakers  believed the terroir there better suited to Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc.  As it turns out, the three whites worked out and are today the valley's leading white wines, with Riesling not far behind.

Southern Oregon is home to two major wine areas: Umpqua Valley AVA and Rogue Valley AVA.  Warmer conditions in the Rogue River Valley are better suited to Bordeaux varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Umpqua Valley, between the cooler Willamette and warmer Rogue Valley, is a good place for a wide range of wines, including those from Bordeaux varieties and popular Spanish grapes Albarino and Tempranillo. 

The Okanagan Valley

British  Columbia

There are multiple  wine areas in BC, all of them small, except for the Okanagan Valley, about 250 miles east of Vancouver.  Grapes were first planted in the Okanagan in the mid-18th century by a French priest, for sacramental wines.  In 1927, Vitis labrusca was tried, then 30 years later, it was hybrids. Finally, in the late 1970s, vinifera varieties overcame winter-kill problems, becoming the backbone of BC wine.  

More than 100 wineries line the shores of Lake Okanagan or are a short distance from the water.  The lake's tempering influence allows for Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Syrah, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Idaho

The Snake River Valley, in southwestern Idaho is considered a high desert, yet it is home to more than 50 wineries that specialize in Bordeaux and Rhone varieties.  An unusual feature of Idaho's viticulture is a small western part of the Snake River AVA juts into Oregon.  Some of Idaho's wineries are located in the northern part of the state, just across the state line with Washington.  Ste. Chapelle is Idaho's largest winery and Fraser Winery the oldest. 

One way to off set the dominance of a neighbor, is to establish a recognizable niche in the market.  Pacific Northwest wines have established local identity and are moving ahead. 

 

Update:  Last week's post on Sicilian White Wine got the attention of Jeff Hinchliffe, winemaker for Hanna Winery, in Sonoma's Dry Creek Valley.  Hanna has planted California's first plot of Grillo, the Sicilian white grape, and Hinchcliffe plans Hanna's first Grillo in 2025.  Hanna will also add the red Nero d'Avola.     

Next post: The Douro

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White Wines of Sicily

When someone mentions "Sicilian wine," do you think red or white?  Or maybe fortified, like  iconic Marsala, the "Sticky from Sicily."  

For most people, the sensory image of Sicily is a romantic bucolic setting, with rustic food and jugs of local wine.  Sicily is a major island in the Mediterranean, floating off the southern tip of the Italian peninsula, not far from Tunisia, North Africa.  

Geography has a way of influencing life, like the cultural mashup that's common throughout Sicily, but especially in cities like Palermo, Catania  and Messina, where you can hear Arabic and Italian spoken in street markets.

                                            Michael Corleone in Sicily                                               

It's not practical for some people to travel to Sicily, so they turn to pop culture as a way to experience life in another country.  In 1974,  fictional life in one rural Sicilian village became part of American pop culture, when a young Michael Corleone danced with his new bride, in "Godfather II," whirling past tables laden with platters of food and jugs of wine.

Popularity of Sicilian white wine was still decades in the future, so the wine at the wedding reception was likely red, although probably not Sicily's popular red wine, Nero d'Avola. 

Today, in traditional rural areas of Sicily, a glass of wine may  be vino bianco, from Grillo, Catarratto, Carricante and Inzolia.  In fact, Sicily produces more white wine than red, with Cataratto the most planted wine grape.  Not only that, but the four major white grapes are very adaptable, appearing together, or in various pairs, in most of Sicily's white wines.

Sicilian wine culture is spread across the island, with a lot of it in the shadow of Mt. Etna, the tallest active volcano in Europe.   Throughout the millennia, eruptions of Etna have enriched vineyard soils with deposits of volcanic ash, no where more than in Catania.  On the slopes of Etna, Sicily's two exciting reds -- Nerello Mascalese and Nerello Cappuccio, thrive.  (See "Nero and Nerello," April 11, 2024) 

Sicilia DOC is an island-wide appellation, encompassing more than 20 DOCs.  Cerasuolo di Vittoria, a red blend from the south coast is Sicily's only DOCG wine.  A handful of DOCs have applied for DOCG, but so far none have succeeded 

Among the hopefuls is Etna DOC, one of Italy's earliest DOC wines, approved in 1968.  Etna Bianco, a dry, mineral-laced blend of Carricante, Cataratto and small amounts of Trebbiano and/or Minella Bianca.  The rule for Carricante is 60% to 100%, but how much is up to the winemaker.  The aim, with Carricante, is to extract attractive flavors that suggest ripe pears and apples, with hints of citrus.   

Grillo is an indigenous white grape that has shown promise in Sicily, but is no longer allowed in non-DOC wines.  Grillo is thought to either be native to Sicily or from Puglia, the heel of Italy's boot.  Once used as a base for Marsala, Grillo is high in sugars but it lost out to Cataratto because of its low-level aromatic intensity.   A dry Grillo is light, lemon-scented and nutty with plenty of up-front stone fruit. Fruitier versions remind me of Viognier and Albarino.

Cataratto

Cataratto is the most planted grape, white or red, in Sicily, but comes second to Trebbiano throughout Italy.  The wide availability makes Cataratto a popular component in blends, like Etna Bianco and Marsala, or with Inzolia.   Planted almost exclusively in western Trapani, Cataratto has been shown through DNA testing to be related to Garganega, the main grape in Soave.

Inzolia can be found in western Sicily and Tuscany, where the grape is called Ansonica.  Inzolia (also spelled "Insolia") is valued for its aromatic qualities and is usually paired with Grillo in Marsala, bottled as a varietal or blended with Cataratto.

Sicilian wine, except maybe for Nero d'Avola, may be scarce in your local market, but these wines have good distribution: Donnafugata, Planeta, Idda, Passopisciaro, Tenuta delle Terre Nere,  Tenuta Regaleali.

End Note:  At one time or another, all of these Sicilian white grapes have been used in Marsala, the iconic fortified Sicilian wine.  Traditionally made from Grillo and Inzolia, Marsala now includes high percentages of Cataratto. Modern Marsala comes in three styles: sweet Fine, medium Superiore and drier Vergine.  (A more detailed look at Marsala, Madeira and Malaga, the trio of Mediterranean classic dessert wines, is coming August 23.)

 

Next post: Pacific Northwest Wine: An Overview

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French or American Oak? Part 2

                                      

"French or American Oak?" (June 20) drew a number of responses, from winemakers and wine consumers. The replies indicated a desire by winemakers to clarify the issue, while also showing that consumers want to know more about the relationship between wine and oak.

Kimberlee Nicholls, winemaker for Markham Vineyard, in the Napa Valley, reminded me of an important difference between French and American oaks, that I didn't mention.  Paul Vandenberg, winemaker and winery owner for Paradisos del Sol Winery, in Washington's Yakima Valley, made a pitch for older barrels in lieu of trendy concrete eggs.  And Marvin Mai, an avid wine consumer from Santa Rosa, California, wants to know about sustainable forestry and if oak chips, used in a concrete egg, have the same impact on wine as does wine aging in an oak barrel. 

Knowing more about the wine you drink can help in making wine buys.  So, here's a follow-up to the June post on French or American oak, with more information...  

On sustainability: The entire process, from the forest to the cellar, has been a personal interest, since I sipped my first wine.  Thus, I believe one way to answer Marvin Mai's question about sustainability, is to first think of how long it takes for an oak tree to grow.  In France, as trees transition for decades through the growth process, the government monitors  the cycle from planting a new sapling to harvesting a mature tree.  In the United States, a sustainable forest growth plan, follows a similar plan, insuring there will always be trees to harvest.  

On the benefits to wine of oak contact: Kimberlee Nicholls explains that oak aging allows the introduction of oxygen into wine, softening tannin and mouthfeel.  "When not using barrels, the introduction of oak is possible through the use of oak chips or oak stave inserts in tanks, to create a softening of the flavor profile," she explains. 

Paul Vandenberg  believes there is a more practical benefit.  "Barrels replaced ceramics as storage and transportation vessels because they are much lighter and more durable when moved. Until recently, new barrels were not used for the highest quality wines. When  American winemakers realized that barrel fermentation and aging were key to white Burgundy (Chardonnay), we started importing barrels."

On the use of concrete eggs:  Vandenberg had this to say: "The use of 'eggs' is stupid and an expensive return to the technology of a time before the use of barrels, and is a response to immature barrels." Then, he adds this about wine held in concrete eggs, "My limited tasting experience suggests to me that stupid, expensive, heavy, space hog ceramic vessels offer no advantage, except, of course, the 'cool' factor, which is strictly PR."

Nicholls does not use concrete eggs at Markham, but she has a couple of concrete tanks, that she uses "only for white wine to enhance the wine's minerality."

There is, however, an "armored" egg in use at Rodney Strong Vineyards.  On "Wine Industry Network," Justin Seidenfeld, reports the fermentation egg in the Rodney Strong cellar is half stainless steel and half French oak, which he says "creates natural mixing and cooling, for a "fuller, richer wine." 

On the advantage of older barrels and barrel neutrality:  Vandenberg prefers barrels that are more than 10 years old, preferably 20-plus.  "A barrel is not neutral until it is well past 10 years old."  In a lighter vein, he reflects, "for a barrel at least 30 years old, the difference between French oak and American oak is weight of the barrel.  As I get older, I prefer Quercus Europe because they are lighter."  He is in agreement with California winemaker Clark Smith, who addresses the subject of using older barrels in his book, "Post Modern Winemaking." 

On the milling of oak for wine barrels: Nicholls points out that the big difference between French and American oak is the way the barrels are milled. "Due to its cell structure, French oak must be cut with the grain, while American oak is typically quarter sawed.  This means less waste on the (American oak) log itself, which probably speaks to the cost difference between the two oaks." 

On the use of oak alternatives:  "I'm not a fan of oak chips," says Nicholls,"because  they have so much oxygen that you need to counteract with more SO2."  Vandenberg, also not a fan of oak adjuncts, as he calls them, says, "They are primarily about aromatic extract; I gave them up years ago."    

Oak is, by far, the worldwide wood of choice for use with wine.  It wasn't always that way. In the 7th century BCE, merchants in Armenia shipped wine in palm wood barrels.  It would be thousands of years before the arrival of oak.  In the intervening years, winemakers  used locally grown woods, including  ash, redwood, acacia, chestnut, cypress, evergreen beech, and pine.  Oak ultimately became the favorite, for its relative ease in forming barrels and, most importantly, the seasoning from oak, is far superior to that of other woods.

The relationship that exists between the contribution of oak to fermenting and maturing wine is complex and extensive. Thus, a detailed coverage of the subject, in two short articles, is impossible.  Hopefully, the information and opinions above and in the June 20, 2024 posting, will help readers of this blog toward a greater enjoyment of wine.

Next posting: Sicilian White Wine

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Finger Lakes

            

Geography influences nearly every wine-buying decision we make. This is especially true for wine shoppers on the West Coast who are hampered by geography when they try to buy wine from the Finger Lakes region of New York state.

Easterners don't have the same problem.  California wine is readily available in most markets in the east and mid-west.  Less so, perhaps, for Pacific Northwest wines.

So, perhaps some information on the Finger Lakes and what wines to look for might generate interest in this historic New York wine region, among Left Coast wine drinkers. 

Thousands of years ago, glaciers formed a series of 11 lakes in central New York state that  became known as the Finger Lakes for their long narrow shapes.  The most prominent are Seneca Lake, Cayuga Lake and Keuka Lake.  In 1982, the Finger Lakes wine region was given an AVA, followed by sub-AVAs for Cayuga Lake and Seneca Lake.

According to the Finger Lakes Wine Alliance (FLWA) there are 130 wineries along the Finger Lakes, making a variety of wines from native, hybrid and European vinifera grapes. Riesling, the second most widely planted grape in the lake region, is presently made by 200 Finger Lakes wineries.                

Today, Riesling and other vinifera grapes, are more common in Finger Lakes vineyards.  The FLWA says these are the top-10 grapes in Finger Lakes vineyards: Concord, Riesling, Catawba, Niagara, Aurore, Elvira, Chardonnay, Cayuga White, Cabernet Franc and Baco Noir. (Vinifera grapes are in bold)

At one time, the town of Hammondsport, on Keuka Lake, was considered the wine capitol of the region, partly because it was the site of historic Taylor Winery and Pleasant Valley Wine Company.

Both companies became known for their sparkling wines (then called "champagne"), made from native grapes.  So close was the association with the Champagne region of France, that the rail stop, near the Pleasant Valley Wine Company, was named Rheims, after the famous city in Champagne.               

According to Leon Adams, in his book, "The Wines of America," in the late 19th century, the proprietors of the Pleasant Valley Wine Company, presented a sparkling wine, made from Delaware and Catawba grapes, at a meeting of the local growers association, prompting one attendee to proclaim, "Truly, this will be the great champagne of the West!"  Although the remark was meant to refer to the continent "west" of Europe, it gave Great Western sparkling wine its name, and eventually the New York bubbly went on to win awards in Paris and London.

It must have been a shocking experience for those European tasters.  Eastern grapes, especially Vitis labrusca, but also some hybrids, have what is pejoratively described as a "foxy" character.  Baco Noir and other red hybrids can smell and taste "foxy," while the Seyvals usually are free of that character. 

A foxy smell is organic and wild, like animal fur. Curiously, some compare the foxy scent to that of wild strawberry, or fraise des bois, an aroma most people find pleasant.

Wine drinkers, familiar with the smell and taste of vinifera wines, find wine made from Vitis labrusca and Vitis riparia grapes alien, even off-putting.  It's a major reason eastern wines are scarce and a hard sell in the west.  And it took years for growers in the Finger Lakes, and other states east of the Mississippi, to learn how to bring vinifera grapes through the harder New York winters

An aside.  On my first wine trip to the Finger Lakes, my photographer and I visited a few wineries that were pouring mostly hybrid wines, including Baco Noir and Seyval Blanc.  Coming from California, I was used to drinking vinifera wine, like Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc so, the eastern wines were, at the very least, unusual.  

But something we noticed, in the tasting rooms we visited, was even more unusual. At Great Western, the tasting room staff had Concord grape juice for the visiting children. While the adults were offered samples of hybrid wines and Riesling, the staff understood that to keep dad and mom concentrating on the wines, they had to distract their child from demanding the parent's attention.

We saw this sensible and impressive marketing idea at other Finger Lakes wineries, and I wondered why this simple tool was not being used in California.

Besides Riesling, Finger Lakes vineyards have other vinifera grapes, like Chardonnay, Cabernet Franc.  And interest in hybrid grapes continues, the most common being American Hybrids (Isabella, Noah) and French Hybrids (Seyvel Blanc, Villard Noir). Hybrids had a growth spurt in the 1990s and continue to be popular with many wine drinkers, where the wines are sold.  And, there still is a demand for native wines like Cayuga White,  Catawba, Niagara and Concord, noted for their "foxy" character.  

Search your local wine shops for hybrid and native wines from the Finger Lakes, or ask your wine merchant to order them.  

 

Correction: In the June 28 post on Australian Cabernet Sauvignon, I had a lapse of memory.  I've been to Western Australia and should have remembered that Perth, the capital city of WA, is closer to Margaret River than Adelaide, days away to the east, across the Nullarbor Plain.  My thanks to Robin Shaw for pointing out the error and my apologies to the residents of Western Australia for my faulty geography.

Next post: French or American Oak Part 2

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