Pop Wino Quiz….
- Which American Viticultural Area (AVA) outside of California has produced three Cabernet Sauvignons with 100 point perfect scores from Robert Parker’s Wine Enthusiast Ratings System?
- Which AVA in Washington State consistently receives the highest price per ton for their grapes by a hefty margin?
- Which AVA in Washington State is the smallest in size at 4,040 acres?
The answer to all these questions is the Red Mountain American Viticultural Area.
Red Mountain AVA is tucked inside the Yakima Valley AVA, which is in turn part of the immense Columbia Valley AVA. The Columbia Valley AVA covers nearly a third of Washington State and stretches north past Lake Chelan towards the Canadian border and to the Idaho border on the east and even dips into a little of Northeastern Oregon on its southern border.
According to the Washington State Wine Commission, the Columbia Valley AVA accounts for 99% of the grapes grown in Washington and has 50,316 acres of planted vines of which 58% is red and 42% is white. The Columbia Valley AVA contains within its borders all the other wine-growing regions in the state of Washington other than the small Puget Sound and the Columbia Gorge AVAs.
View from Terra Blanca Winery on Red Mountain to the Horse Heaven Hills in the distance.
Compared to the huge Columbia Valley AVA, the Red Mountain AVA with around 2,000 acres of planted grapes (roughly 95% is planted in red varietals) represents just 4% of the planted acreage of the larger Columbia Valley AVA. But a case can be made that the grapes of Red Mountain represent the TOP 4% in terms of quality of fruit and wines produced in the state. And with due respect to the Red Mountain wineries producing tasty white varietals – especially Sauvignon Blanc – Red Mountain is all about red, red wine. And like in Napa, Cabernet Sauvignon is the kingpin red grape here and is the most widely planted and acclaimed varietal. Merlot, Sangiovese, Cabernet Franc, Syrah and other assorted red varietals are also produced in smaller but no less tasty quantities.
Red Mountain tops out at 1,411 ft in the back right of the photo.
You will note from the pictures that Red Mountain is not really much of a mountain at 1,411 feet and that rather than red it looks decidedly brown. The story behind the colorful name of Red Mountain is that it was coined due to the red springtime color of the Cheatgrass in the area. May of 2017 might have one of the better times to see that short burst of red from the Cheatgrass because of the relatively high amount of rain the area received in the winter of 2016-2017. By June the Cheatgrass has turned to brown until a possible return to a red hue the following spring.
The Ciel Du Cheval – one of the famed Red Mountain vineyards that provided grapes for the 100 point Quilceda Creek red wine.
Red Mountain was covered in sagebrush when John Williams and Jim Holmes planted the first vineyard in 1975. A lot of hard work went into sinking a well and clearing the sagebrush and prairie dogs. More than a few folks questioned their sanity. That hard work was the start of the Kiona Vineyard (a Native American name that means “brown hills”) and then in 1980 they founded Kiona Winery, the first winery on Red Mountain. When I first visited Red Mountain the Kiona tasting room was just a room in the Williams’ house but now Kiona has a state of the art tasting facility with beautiful vistas over the surrounding vineyards and hills. The reach of Red Mountain fruit goes far beyond the wineries within the Red Mountain AVA because there are only about a dozen wineries within the boundaries of the AVA but growers like Kiona sell grapes to dozens more vintners which are crafted into fine wines outside of the Red Mountain AVA.
The outdoor porch at Kiona’s state of the art tasting room.
Red Mountain Taste
Maybe you have had a chuckle over some of the adjectives that wine experts use to describe the taste of wines and I’m certainly not going down that road except to say that I find Red Mountain red wines certifiably yummy!
The words you hear over and over when people describe Red Mountain red wines are things like ripe, dense, rich, intense, structured, concentrated and long finish – words that describe the mouth feel and opulence of Red Mountain wines. Red Mountain red wines have the structure and power to allow them to be cellared and enjoyed over several years.
But these wines are not over the top fruit bombs because in addition to descriptions about how powerful these wines are you also hear words like elegance, lithe, finesse, balanced, soft, delicate and light on their feet. As for taste descriptors common words are blueberry, wild berries, currants, dark fruit, plum, dark cherry, mineral, smoke, toast, licorice, and coffee. I’m sticking with “yummy” as an appropriate summation of the Red Mountain taste.
Many of the wineries on Red Mountain are found off N. Sunset Road.
So what makes Red Mountain grapes so special? It’s a combination of many essential wine growing traits all coming together in one tiny spot of unique geography. The nearby AVAs of Horse Heaven Hills, Rattlesnake Hills, and Snipes Mountain all contain some of these traits but only Red Mountain can claim them all.
Slope, Sun and Orientation – Red Mountain has a perfect southwest facing slope which makes it warmer and provides more sunlight hours than any other part of the Columbia Valley AVA. In fact, Red Mountain receives two hours more sunlight per day during the growing season than Napa Valley does.
Water – With an average of only 5 inches of rain per year the area feels like a low desert. The Red Mountain vineyards rely mostly on irrigation which allows growers to water sparingly and stress the grapevines to yield concentrated fruit. Complete control over the irrigation also reduces issues with mold and mildew compared to most vineyard regions.
Looking down Red Mountain from the Col Solare Winery.
Temperature Variation – During the growing season, daytime temperatures average 90 °F while the nighttime temperatures drop below 50 °F which helps preserve the acid levels within the grape. In addition the Yakima River flows past the area and provides a moderating effect on the hot sunny days.
Wind – Consistent wind further stresses the grapes, decreases berry size, and thickens the grape skins providing concentration, color, and structure. The ever present winds also bring top dressing down from nearby Horse Heaven Hills and Rattlesnake Hills to add to the soil composition.
Soil – About 15,000 years ago a massive series of floods from Lake Missoula ripped through the Columbia Valley and deposited silt, sand, and gravel over the valley and far beyond. Combine the soil base from the Missoula floods with the wind blown top soil from the surrounding hills and you have the makings of the Red Mountain soil. The soil on Red Mountain is high in alkalinity and calcium carbonate which causes the vines to struggle and adds minerality to the taste. The granular soils of Red Mountain drain extremely well and allow for vines to reach deep into the soil which is perfect for growing grapes via irrigation.
Cooper Wine Company and some of the other wineries are creating RV sites for wine club members to use when they pickup wines.
Visiting Red Mountain
Despite the quality of the fruit and the 100 points wines, no one is ever going to confuse Red Mountain with Napa as a wine tasting destination. The south central portion of Washington does have its own brand of beauty and includes both the Snake and the Columbia Rivers and snow-capped Mt. Adams but the region lacks the outstanding physical beauty of Napa Valley. Red Mountain also lacks a large selection of nearby restaurants and top-flight accommodations that make an area like Napa a destination wine tasting area.
However, Red Mountain is located between Tri-Cities and Yakima and so restaurants and accommodations are relatively close and with time the infrastructure of the area will improve. Large investments by Ste. Michelle Wine Estates in partnership with Antinori, and by the Aquilini Investment Group show that the word is out on the region and before long all the plantable acreage of this small AVA will be gone.
We opted to camp in nearby Pasco at Sacajawea State Park on the Snake River.
Even though Red Mountain is not on par with the beauty of Napa it does far exceed Napa in terms of affordability of both the cost of tastings and the price point of the fine wines available to purchase. A typical tasting rarely exceeds $10 and that is usually waived with the purchase of a bottle. And for the quality you receive, the Red Mountain reds are a huge savings over the cost of Napa reds.
You also won’t find the crowds and traffic and the pretentiousness sometimes seen in Napa. In Red Mountain it is not unusual to find an owner or family member, a grower, or a winemaker, pouring wines in the tasting room or available to chat in the vineyard. So make your way to tiny Red Mountain for a visit – late spring and early fall are especially nice times – and get your hands on some Red Mountain reds before the word gets out and the prices go up.