The Rocks District of Milton-Freewater AVA

The Rocks District
Wine region
Rough location of The Rocks District (red) within Walla Walla AVA (black)
Official name The Rocks District of Milton-Freewater Viticultural Area
Type American Viticultural Area
Year established 2015[1]
Country United States
Part of Columbia Valley AVA and Walla Walla AVA, Oregon
Climate region Arid
Soil conditions cobbles
Total area 3,770 acres (1,526 ha)[2]
Size of planted vineyards 250 acres (101 ha)[2]
No. of vineyards 19
Grapes produced cabernet franc, grenache, malbec, Syrah, tempranillo, viognier
No. of wineries 3 or 4
The Rocks District signature cobblestones

The Rocks District of Milton-Freewater Viticultural Area (The Rocks District) is a sub-appellation of the Walla Walla Valley AVA, which itself is a sub-appellation of the Columbia Valley AVA.[3][4][5]

It is named for the city of Milton-Freewater, Oregon, and a unique alluvial fan resulting in rocky soils with "baseball sized" basalt cobbles[6] covering the earth,[4] and is notable as being "the only AVA in the United States whose boundaries are defined by the soil type".[7] Unique wine flavors are said to result from the mineral composition, hydrology, and temperatures of the volcanic rocks.[8][lower-alpha 1][9][10]

History

Washington State geologist and terroir consultant Kevin Pogue submitted the proposal for the new AVA to the U.S. government.[3][4][6][5][lower-alpha 2][2] The AVA was published for comment in the Federal Register in February 2014,[2] and was established in February 2015.[1]

Controversies

The AVA, unlike the Walla Walla Valley AVA, and the Walla Walla Valley itself, lies entirely within the state of Oregon. This has implications for use of the appellation on wines produced in Oregon and Washington. Because Federal rules require wines to be fully finished in the state in which the AVA lies,[12][13] only a handful of Oregon wineries,[14][lower-alpha 3] out of the more than 100 wineries in both states in the Walla Walla Valley,[16] would be permitted to use the appellation on their product.[lower-alpha 4] At the same time, Oregon wineries as far away as Portland could use the appellation.[lower-alpha 5] This has caused some, labeled "prominent dissenters" by Wine Spectator's Harvey Steiman, to oppose the AVA.[5] Other reactions were less pointed with wine publishers using terms like "a bit of controversy"[11] and "the location...creates some nuances".[15] One of the same publishers said a "sub-appellation was ... inevitable given the uniqueness of the soils and resulting wines".[15]

Critical reception

Wine Spectator's two top-rated Northwest wines as of 2013, both Syrahs, and both of which scored 98 out of 100, were from the AVA.[17]

Footnotes

  1. ↑ "Vines struggle to grow, resulting in tiny grapes of amazing flavor intensity. And yes, the wines show the sort of flavors that fall under the heading of "minerality," although to my taste it's more like black olive and tar.": Steiman 2013[5]
  2. ↑ "[Kevin] Pogue authored a petition to recognize 'The Rocks at Milton-Freewater' as a federally approved American Viticultural Area.": Perdue 2014[11]
  3. ↑ Sullivan states only Cayuse, Otis Kenyon, Watermill, Don Carlo Vineyard and Zerba wineries meet the criterion.[15]
  4. ↑ "The [Rocks AVA] petition is surrounded by a bit of controversy because it is wholly within Oregon though entirely within the Walla Walla Valley. Under current federal labeling laws, Washington wineries that use grapes from 'The Rocks' would not be able to use that AVA name on the label. Instead, they would need to refer to it as coming from the Walla Walla Valley. This would apply even to Washington wineries that own vineyards within the AVA. Only Oregon wineries would be able to use the designation.": Perdue 2014[11]
  5. ↑ "[Wineries in] Portland, hundreds of miles away, can and do make wines from these grapes. They could legally use the AVA.": Steiman 2013[5]

References

  1. 1 2 "TTB Approves New AVA: The Rocks District of Milton-Freewater". February 6, 2015. Retrieved June 10, 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Federal Register 2014.
  3. 1 2 Richard 2013a.
  4. 1 2 3 Richard 2013b.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Steiman 2013.
  6. 1 2 Holden 2014.
  7. ↑ Kimbel 2014.
  8. ↑ Pogue 2009.
  9. ↑ Sullivan 2013b "Stylistically, the wines are known for their outrageous, earthy, meaty aromas and flavors. In contrast to Syrah grown elsewhere in the Northwest, many of the wines off The Rocks emphasize the savory aspects of the grape instead of the fruitiness."
  10. ↑ Cayuse 2014 "The rocky soil offers excellent drainage and limited nutrients, the vines have to struggle to survive, thus reducing production and concentrating the fruit's flavor. High density planting forces their root systems to compete and dig deeper for moisture and sustenance, and the heat transmitted by the stones helps the grapes to ripen."
  11. 1 2 3 Perdue 2014.
  12. ↑ Hermann & Kipp 2014.
  13. ↑ Kingery Ritter & Trinidad 2014.
  14. ↑ Degerman 2014.
  15. 1 2 3 Sullivan 2013a.
  16. ↑ Marquardt & Darr 2014.
  17. ↑ Richard 2013c "Reynvaan syrah Walla Walla Valley Stonessence 2010 snagged the [2013] No. 11 spot with a score of 98. The only other Northwest wine to ever receive 98 by the magazine is Christophe Baron's No Girls syrah Walla Walla Valley La Paciencia Vineyard 2009. The two wines that scored 98 come from grapes grown on the Oregon side of the Walla Walla Valley, in what could become next spring a sub AVA called the Milton-Freewater Rocks District."

Sources

  • Geology and terroir of the Walla Walla AVA, Cayuse Vinyards, 2014
  • Degerman, Eric (March 3, 2014), Oregon winery restriction sparks comments on The Rocks AVA petition, Great Northwest Wine
  • "Proposed Establishment of The Rocks District of Milton-Freewater Viticultural Area" (PDF), Federal Register proposed rules, United States Government Printing Office, 79 (38), p. 10743, February 26, 2014
  • Hermann, Chris; Kipp, Bernie (March 6, 2014), "Conditions For Using Multi-state AVAs On Wine Labels", Alcoholic beverages law blog, Stoel Rives
  • Holden, Ronald (April 2014), Home Grown: A celebration of local culinary enterprise—Kevin Pogue: Champion of Rocks, Seattle Dining!, archived from the original on 2014-09-03
  • Kimbel, Lori (July 1, 2014), "Milton-Freewater Rocks District AVA awaits approval", Northeast Oregon Business News
  • Kingery Ritter, Carol; Trinidad, John (March 1, 2014), TTB Proposes New Oregon AVA, Cites Wine Blogs as Support
  • Marquardt, Tom; Darr, Patrick (August 1, 2014), "The Wine Guys: Walla Walla Valley prepares to welcome new AVA", Yakima Herald-Republic
  • Perdue, Andy (May 2014), "Walla Walla Celebrates Syrah", Walla Walla Lifestyles
  • Pogue, Kevin (2009), "Folds, floods and fine wine: Geologic influences on the terroir of the Columbia Basin—Cayuse Vinyards, Walla Walla AVA", in O'Connor, Jim E., Volcanoes to Vineyards: Geologic Field Trips Through the Dynamic Landscape of the Pacific Northwest, Geological Society of America, p. 15
  • Richard, Terry (October 16, 2013), "Walla Walla emerges as wine-tasting haven in scenic southeast Washington", The Oregonian
  • Richard, Terry (October 21, 2013), "Walla Walla's southside wine district features proposed Milton-Freewater AVA", The Oregonian
  • Richard, Terry (November 29, 2013), "Wine Spectator's newest magazine gives serious coverage to Northwest wine scene", The Oregonian
  • Steiman, Harvey (February 28, 2013), "New Walla Walla AVA Faces Rocky Road—Washington vintners who use grapes from "The Rocks" won't be able to put it on their labels", Steiman at Large blog, Wine Spectator
  • Sullivan, Sean (February 2013), "Proposed 'The Rocks of Milton-Freewater' AVA focuses on terroir" (PDF), Washington Wine Report
  • Sullivan, Sean P. (Summer 2013), Walla Walla Valley: A Matter Of Rocks, Tasting Room magazine
  • Veseth, Mike (July 22, 2014), "The Five Pillars of Walla Walla's Wine Success", The Wine Economist blog

Further reading

  • Gregutt, Paul (2010), Washington Wines & Wineries, University of California Press, p. 152
  • Richard, Terry (August 22, 2014), "Walla Walla Beckons Visitors", The Oregonian
  • Cole, Katherine (September 2, 2013), "Wine notes: Rhone wave breaking in Walla Walla", The Oregonian
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