Two New Washington AVA's Pt 1
With today’s Fruit Grower Report, I’m Bob Larson. The state of Washington has two new American Viticultural Areas, or AVA’s where wine grapes are grown in the White Bluffs AVA and The Burn of Columbia Valley AVA.
As far as what that means for the vineyards and winemakers, Washington Wine Commission president Steve Warner says …
WARNER … “The designation Bob, it’s a recognition at the federal level, from the TTB in particular, of the uniqueness of the wine growing region. And so, previous to the approval wineries couldn’t label their bottles with those AVA’s because they weren’t officially recognized.”
And now, Warner says they can …
WARNER … “Now that it is, they can actually put the AVA designation, similar to how in the past we had Yakima Valley AVA, or Red Mountain or Walla Walla, now you’ll see bottles of wine that have White Bluffs and The Burn of Columbia Valley on them.”
And 30+-years ago, Warner says who’d have thought this was possible …
WARNER … “I think it’s another example of the continued growth and long-term viability of the industry. I mean it was only 1983 when our first AVA was established in the Yakima Valley and we had roughly, I don’t know, 40 wineries at the time? And now, we’re 18 AVA’s and over 1,000 wineries so it’s pretty awesome.”
Tune in tomorrow for more on these two new Washington AVA’s and what it means for our ever-expanding wine industry.
