Washington Wines

Washington State is the second largest producer after California, although it is still way behind in terms of volume. Grapes were first planted at Fort Vancouver by the infamous Hudson's Bay Company in 1825, and by 1860 they had spread across the state. In the early 1900s, Italian and German immigrants planted their native varieties in the Yakima and Columbia Valleys, and soon the first annual Columbia River Valley Grape Carnival was held in 1910.

After prohibition, real scale was slow to come and it wasn't until 1969, when the state legislature passed a bill to end restrictions on wine imports from outside the state that competition forced the Washington producers to improve. The state's largest and most successful winery, Chateau Ste. Michelle, was born from this in 1934, and is absolutely tied to the economic success of grape growers in the state. It accounts for over half of the entire production here.

Within Washinton state, there are 20 AVAs distinguished by various features. Most of the vineyards are to the east in the Columbia Valley region on the east of the Cascade Mountains but a few regions like Puget Sound are located to the west of the mountains too.