Wahluke Slope receives federal wine recognition

Eighth American Viticultural Area designated by government

WAHLUKE SLOPE — Area winemakers say federal recognition for this region is going to have some benefit for their companies.

The Wahluke Slope, a geographically isolated, generally south-facing slope of land near the Saddle Mountains, will soon become the state's eighth federally recognized American Viticultural Area (AVA). Wahluke Slope will be awarded appellation status by the United States Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) on Jan. 6.

"Wahluke Slope is one of the state's premier wine growing regions," said Robin Pollard, executive director of the Washington Wine Commission, in a press release. "Government approval of the AVA will allow the industry to distinguish the quality fruit produced on Wahluke Slope and differentiate itself among global competitors."

The Wahluke Slope AVA lies in the center of the Columbia Valley AVA and is bounded on the west and southern ends by the Columbia River, on the north by the Saddle Mountains and on the east by federal lands of the Hanford Reach National Monument.

Named "Wahluke," or "watering place" by the Native Americans who settled there, the 81,000-acre region features more than 20 vineyards, one winery and two wine production facilities, with plans for several new winery openings in the near future.

Dan Fox, managing member of the Fox Estate Winery, said the Columbia Valley stretches almost to the Canadian border and the Oregon border.

"That's a huge difference in climate, soil, water — everything's different between Chelan, Mattawa and (the Yakima Valley)," Fox said. "This will just recognize us as something unique and be able to provide us with a way to showcase what the Mattawa area can do for the quality of wine."

Butch Milbrandt, co-owner of Milbrandt Vineyards and owner of the custom crush facility Wahluke Wine Company, which began operating this year, said that the recognition will make the growing region more significant to the wine industry.

"It'll give (winemakers) additional marketing prestige and should make their wines more desirable to people who are really into quality wines," he said. "People seek out wines from very good areas. Now that we've been designated an area, it should enhance our marketing capabilities."

Fox believes the benefits to his company will come in a few years, "when more and more bottles of wine labeled Wahluke Slope start winning awards and are recognized for quality," he said. "They already are, but a lot of people don't know that they come from the Mattawa area. There's a large number of wineries that buy grapes from Mattawa and, generally speaking, they make very good wine."

Milbrandt and Fox were both part of a group working to have the area recognized as an appellation. Milbrandt said that the application was submitted in November 2004.

Fox explained that federal law says anybody with an interest can make an application to the TTB.

"Then there's a process where you have to show you're a unique area, different from other regions in your current appellation or current AVA, and it literally takes an act of Congress," he said. "So it takes a couple years. They consider soil, weather, heat units, water, all aspects of growing, and that's what they base it on. You have to be unique. You can't just get one because you think you want to be different from your neighbor."

Connected to the news of the Wahluke Slope AVA, Milbrandt said Milbrandt Vineyards will begin producing wine in a bottle under its own label with a 2005 vintage that will be released in May or June.

"Due to the fact that the 2005 growing season was so good and produced such fine fruit, we think it's a great opportunity to begin a release of wine," Milbrandt said. "The overall quality will be even better this year than it has in the past."

Having the Wahluke Slope designation will enhance the marketability of Milbrandt Vineyards wine, Milbrandt said.

"It's going to make it so that these wines coming out of Mattawa and the Wahluke Slope area are going to be seen for what they are, as pure quality," Fox said.

White Heron Cellars owner Cameron Fries said his Quincy operation is not impacted by the Wahluke Slope AVA news, but the TTB is presently conducting an initial overview of documents related to the application for an Ancient Lakes AVA, which would include White Heron Cellars.