Walla Walla has new wine AVA in Oregon: Rocks District of Milton-Freewater

Apr 5, 2015

(OregonLive) - Oregon got its 18th wine AVA in February when the federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau establish the Rocks District of Milton-Freewater as the newest American Viticulture Area.

Approval came Feb. 9, according to information provided by the Walla Walla Valley Wine Alliance.

The Rocks AVA is situated on an alluvial fan of the Walla Walla River, where the river exits the foothills of the Blue Mountains and enters the Walla Walla Valley. It lies entirely within Oregon and includes part of the town of Milton-Freewater.

The area contained within the Rocks District also lies within the Walla Walla Valley AVA, which in turn is entirely within the larger Columbia Valley AVA.

The Rocks District of Milton-Freewater's most distinguishing feature is its soil, or lack thereof. The ground consists primarily of dark-colored basalt cobblestones, which is very well drained and encourages vines to root deeply. Other agriculture growing in the rocks is primarily fruit orchards.

Due to the coarse texture, the soils are not easily eroded, so cover crops are not required and the cobblestones can be left exposed on the surface where they absorb solar radiation. Heat from the sun-warmed stones promotes growth early in the season and assists ripening during the late summer and early fall.

Similar soil can be found in French and Chilean wine growing areas.

Nineteen wine producers have vineyards within the boundaries of the Rocks District of Milton-Freewater AVA, which contains approximately 3,770 acres and currently has approximately 250 acres of commercially producing vineyards.

The AVA application was organized and managed by Steve Robertson of Delmas/SJR Vineyard, along with seven other wine growers and producers. Kevin R. Pogue, a professor of geology at Whitman College in Walla Walla, submitted the petition to the TTB.

"The concept behind AVAs is to recognize regions that have truly unique growing conditions that are expressed in the wines," Pogue said in a statement released by the Walla Walla Valley Wine Alliance. "I believe we have remained true to that spirit, creating an AVA with the most uniform terroir in the United States. The Rocks District lies on one landform, with very uniform topography and climate, and 96-percent of the soils belong to the Freewater soil series."

The Rocks District can be seen by a driving tour beginning at the northwest edge of Milton-Freewater and venturing into the level land that extends north and west. The Walla Walla Valley AVA as a whole spans northeastern Oregon to southeastern Washington and has a long agricultural history.

A wide variety of crops have been cultivated in the Rocks District since the late 1800s, and in addition to wine grapes the area still produces commercially-grown apples, cherries, prunes and plums.

Wines produced from vineyards planted in the Rocks District in the mid-1990s were quickly recognized by wine critics as among the finest in the country. Two of the syrah wines scored the highest ratings ever for Oregon or Washington by Wine Spectator magazine, though a pinot noir from the Willamette Valley has recently joined them.

"Wines from the Rocks District of Milton-Freewater have been earning accolades for years," said Duane Wollmuth, executive director of the Walla Walla Valley Wine Alliance, in a statement released by his organization. "The Walla Walla Valley has a proud tradition of growing world-class wine grapes, and this designation will help winegrowers better tell the story of the unique terroir on which their grapes are grown."

The Rocks District of Milton-Freewater is Oregon's 18th AVA, which is another important step in designating the distinctive and high-quality wine growing regions within the state, according to Ellen Brittan, chair of the Oregon Wine Board.


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