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AVAS get smaller PHOTO by melissa Hansen I n wine marketing, an appellation or American Viticultural Area (AVA) is a way to differentiate your wine from others and define its sense of place. Washington State has 13 designated AVAs, and more are likely coming. When the U.S. government first promoted the concept of AVAs years ago, they tended to focus on river valley drainages, says Dr. Wade Wolfe, wine industry veteran and co-owner of Thurston Wolfe Winery in Prosser, Washington. The regulatory government branch that designated AVAs then, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, used terms to delineate boundaries that followed the water flow through an area, according to Wolfe who, on behalf of Chateau Ste. Michelle, prepared the petition to designate the Columbia Valley AVA. "River valley drainage areas were one way to suggest an area had similar geography, microclimate, soils, and such," he said. "That's why the early AVAs all had valley in their names—Napa Valley, Sonoma Valley, and the three valleys in Washington, Yakima, Columbia, and Walla Walla." Subappellations were the next step in further defining the place where grapes are grown. "But you couldn't describe the area with the valley term because it had already been used," he said. "So now we have AVAs that have hills, ridges, mountains, and other descriptions in the name." Examples include Howell Mountain and Rutherford Bench, both subappellations of Napa Valley AVA, and in Washington, there are Red Mountain, Snipes Mountain, Horse Heaven Hills, Rattlesnake Hills, Wahluke Slope, and Naches Heights. "It's a progression, as an industry evolves, to define smaller growing regions from large AVAs," he said. "Yes, I think there will be more subappellations within Yakima Valley," he said. —M.Hansen Wade Wolfe in the tasting room of his Thurston Wolfe Winery in Prosser, Washington. to Wolfe. Little was known about the disease back then and it was generally thought that certified vines would stay clean once planted. Since then, researchers have found that insects can vector and spread the disease to healthy vineyards. Wolfe, who studied how the disease got a foothold in the state's vineyards, learned that many of the infected vineyards were propagated from cuttings of the original certified vines. Leafroll disease-infected vineyards have since been replanted, but the disease can significantly impact grape quality by reducing yield, Brix, and other fruit attributes, I save Burrowd big $$ at s Tracto r. RENT IT, OR BUY IT •Tractors • Sprayers • Bin Trailers • Platforms and can delay ripening. Many believe that the disease may have played a role in reducing wine quality. The state's wine industry went through an evolution in the late 1990s and early 2000s, updating vineyards with different cultivars, replanting to match the right variety to the site, and winemaking techniques improved. Washington State University researchers helped provide the industry with viticulture and enology practices suited for conditions in the Pacific Northwest. Yakima Valley also went through an evolution, Wolfe said. "We knew better where to put varieties, winery practices improved, and overall, wine quality in Yakima Valley improved," he said, adding that the regional grower and winery groups also saw need for stepped up promotion efforts. In 2003, two regional groups—one supported by growers, one supported by wineries—merged into Wine Yakima Valley. An executive director was hired to educate consumers, trade, and media and a website and wine touring information developed. "We realized that we needed to focus on re-educating and updating the trade and media of the changes that had taken place in the Valley and make them aware of the current situation and the wine quality we now have," said Wolfe. "Yakima Valley has as much to offer in terms of wine quality as any other region. In fact, we provide other grape and winemaking areas, such as Walla Walla and Woodinville, with fruit to make their wines." Tooting your own horn is more challenging today, considering there are more than 750 bonded wineries and 13 recognized AVAs in the state. "Because there are so many wineries and so many wine regions, it makes you tend to focus on your own region," he said. "I'm sure there's a dilution effect because we're all competing for the same market, the same consumer." • YOU name it, we've got it! NOTHING TOO SMALL OR TOO LARGE Give Us a Call TODAY. We'll Take Care of YOU! FRUITRIVIA: Test your fruit variety knowledge QUESTIONS ON PAGE 46 Q1 b. Q2 a. (The apple was bred in 1961 and released as a commercial variety in 1991. "A redder Honeycrisp," June 2012) Q3 e. (Black Republican is the mother. "Paternity test implicates Napoleon," January 1, 2013) Q4 c. ("Assessing new cherry varieties," June 2012) Q5 d. ("Muscat plantings on the rise," June 2012) Q6 e. (Collette is a pear variety.The others are new apple varieties.) Q7 They are all pear varieties. (Source: The Brooks and Olmo Register of Fruit & Nut Varieties) Q8 f. ("What to call these puzzling plums?" June 2011) 40 June 2013 GOOD FRUIT GROWER www.goodfruit.com