The history of Washington wine production dates back to the arrival of European and American settlers in the early 19th century but the viticultural history of the region came much earlier.^[1] Much of the geology that contribute to the unique landforms and soil structure of Washington State was created by the volcanic and tectonic activities of the North American Plate which over millions of years gave rise to the Cascade Range and the cataclysmic Missoula Floods that occurred at the end of the Ice Age which created the Columbia River basin.^[2]

Wine historians and scientists, including Washington wine pioneer, Dr. Walter Clore, believe that grapevines among the crops planted at Fort Vancouver in 1825 by traders working for the Hudson's Bay Company. This would make them the first planting in the state but there is no definitive proof that wine was produced from these plantings or if they were just used for table grapes.^[3] There is evidence that wine production must have at least occurred shortly thereafter because French, German and Italian immigrants who came into the region during the railroad expansion of the mid-19th century had developed a thriving wine culture in the Walla Walla Valley by the 1860s.^[4]

The early 20th century saw the Washington wine industry badly crippled by the Temperance Movement which culminated in the ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and the establishment of Prohibition in the United States. While many wineries went out of business, the period did the see development of a significant home winemaking culture in the state. This, coupled with the beginning of large scale irrigation projects in the Columbia basin, saw a boom in vineyard plantings.^[1] Following the repeal of Prohibition with the Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution in the early 1930s, Washington's newly reforming wine industry was based primarily on sweet fortified production made from the hybrid grapes and Vitis Labrusca varieties like Concord.^[5]

It wasn't until 1969, at the passing of Washington State House Bill 100 (also known as the California Wine Bill) that the modern Washington wine industry began to emerge. With the end of protectionist policies that kept Californian and other out-of-state wines from Washington consumers, the state's wineries had to adapt to the competition of premium quality, dry wines that entered the market. Many of the post-prohibition wineries failed, with the Associated Vintners (now Columbia Winery) and Ste. Michelle Vintners (now Chateau Ste. Michelle) being one of the few to quickly adapt and thrive. The 1970s and 1980s saw a period of steady growth with many of Washington's notable wineries (such as Leonetti Cellars, Quilceda Creek Vintners, L'Ecole N°41, McCrea Cellars) being founded and gaining critical acclaim. This period also saw the plantings of many notable vineyards (such as Boushey, Celilo, Champoux, Ceil du Cheval, Cold Creek and Red Willow Vineyards that would appear on many vineyard designated bottlings of Washington wine.^[6]

The 1990s saw even further rapid develop with the French Paradox episode of the program 60 Minutes ushering in a "red wine boom" and Washington State Merlot gained notoriety for its distinctiveness compared to Merlots from California and France. Since then Washington has received critical acclaim for a variety of red and white wines, with winemakers such as Ernst Loosen of Germany, Michel Rolland of Bordeaux, former Penfolds Grange winemaker John Duval of Australia and the Antinori family of Italy, coming to the state to produce Washington wines.^[7]

Ancient history[edit]

The geological history of the state can be traced to the movement of glaciers along the edge of the Pacific Northwestern section of the North American Plate that retreated from the area over 16,000 years ago, leaving behind a free-draining gravel bed up to 250ft deep in some places.^[2]

The Great Missoula Floods at the end of Ice Age created much of the Columbia River basin and brought soil deposits to the region from as far away as modern day Montana.^[8] These floods released a torrent waves of water (nearly equal to the amount of water in Lake Ontario and Lake Erie combined) traveling more than 60 miles per hour and 500 feet high across the Columbia Plateau. These floods carved out the geographical landscape of the region, creating coulees and gravel bars as well as depositing layers of gravels, sands and silt that would eventually mix with loess and volcanic dust.^[9]

19th century and settlement[edit]

Records indicate that shipments to the Hudson's Bay Company in 1825 included grape seeds from Europe, which were subsequently planted at the company's trading post at Fort Vancouver along the Columbia River. What exact variety these grape seeds were and whether the grapes were used for wine production or just as table grapes is not known. It is known that Vitis vinifera grape plantings and nurseries were well established down south in California and over the next several decades nurseries began popping up all along the west coast, which meant that settlers traveling north had access to cuttings.^[1][6]

One nursery in the Oregon Territory was founded in 1847 by Henderson Luelling in what is now the Willamette Valley.^[10] Along with William Meeks, Luelling established a "mother nursery" in Milwaukie, Oregon that became the source provider for several nurseries in the Puget Sound area in the 1850s, from Olympia, to Steilacoom and along the Duwamish River valley. Eventually cuttings from these nurseries went eastward, across the Cascades with nurseries being established in the Walla Walla Valley by the 1860s.^[6]

Railroad expansions and immigration[edit]

The expansion of railroad networks into the Pacific Northwest under the Pacific Railway Acts of Congress in the mid 19th-century brought in a flux of European immigrants, many of whom were familiar with winemaking and viticulture from their homelands. Many of these immigrants established vineyards for their own use and brought with them a culture of drinking wine as a dietary staple. Several entrepreneurs in the state also planted vineyards to deal with the growing demand for grapes and wine.^[6]

One notable planting were the vineyards on Stretch Island in the Case Inlet of Puget Sound planted in 1872 by American Civil War veteran Lambert Evans.^[1] Evans would later sell part of vineyards to New York businessman Adam Eckert who do much to lay the foundation of wine production in Puget Sound, including writing one of the first books on winemaking in the area. Expanding upon the initial purchase from Evans, the Eckert's Fruit Company on Stretch Island would grow to become the largest grape nursery in the Pacific Northwest by the turn of the 20th century and was responsible for the introduction of many new Vitis labrusca and hybrid grape varieties to the region.^[6] One variety, the Island Belle would become an important grape in the Washington home winemaking industry during the period of prohibition.^[1]

Early 20th century[edit]

Much of the groundwork for the modern Washington wine industry can be traced to the beginning of the large irrigation projects in the eastern part of the state during the early 20th century. While Western Washington receives ample amounts of rainfall, most of Eastern Washington have an arid semi-desert climate due to the rain shadow effect of the Cascade Mountains which divide the state. The availability of water via irrigation opened up the eastern part of the state to agricultural and viticultural opportunities.^[6]

The state's first large scale irrigation project was completed in Kennewick, Washington in 1903 by a subsidiary of Northern Pacific Railway. The sprouting of agriculture and the viticulture in the area happened rapidly over the next decade and Kennewick became the center of grape growing the state. In 1910, it was the site of the Columbia River Valley Grape Carnival were over 40 grape varieties, including some Vitis vinifera were exhibited.^[1] Among the varieties featured were Black Hamburg, Emperor, Muscat of Alexandria, Chasselas, Fararar, Cornichon, Niagara, Delaware, Catawba and Concord. The Concord grape was first planted in Outlook, Washington in 1904 and would eventually become one of the state's most planted grape varieties.^[6] Even as the state's vinifera wine industry gained prominence into the 21st century, Washington would still be a leading producer of Concord, eclipsing New York State and supplying more than half of all Concord grown in the United States.^[11]

Several individuals from the irrigation industry became wealthy through their work and invested into vineyards and wineries and would become pioneers in the Washington wine industry. Seattle attorney Elbert F. Blaine managed two of the state's early irrigation projects in the Yakima Valley and built the Stone House Winery near Grandview, Washington in 1907. Blaine was one of the first Washington wineries to hire a professionally trained winemaker when he brought in French-Canadian winemaker Paul Charvet from Quebec.^[1] Another irrigation attorney, William B. Bridgman wrote the state's first irrigation laws and also planted a vineyard in 1914 near Snipes Mountain that would eventually become the Harrison Hill Vineyard.^[6]

Prohibition and repeal[edit]

Beginning in 1916, cities and counties in Washington began adopting "dry laws" to restrict the production and purchase of alcohol. The next year, Washington became one of the first states to go complete dry with local authorities shutting down most of the state's wine production. The laws adopted by the Washington State Legislature were some of the strictest in the country were actually relaxed somewhat when the 18th Amendment, ushering in national prohibition, was ratified and superseded the state's laws.^[1]

The provisions allowing home winemakers to produce up to 200 gallons a year for personal consumption kept some grape growers in business, with growers like Bridgman even expanding with more plantings to keep up with the demand. But overall prohibition was disastrous for the Washington wine industry with nearly every commercial winery going out of business and most vineyards being uprooted and replaced with other agricultural crops such as apples and cherries. Even after the repeal of prohibition in 1933, the culture of wine drinking in Washington, as well as the rest of America, still harbored negative perceptions. For nearly generation of consumers who came of age during the prohibition period, poorly made and faulty wines, often produced in unsanitary conditions and blamed for illnesses, by many home winemakers became the lingering impression of wine. It wouldn't be until after World War II that favorable public opinion of wine would start to gain traction.^[6]

The very first Washington winery to receive a license after Prohibition was St. Charles Winery on Stretch Island in 1933. The next year several more wineries, including National Wine Company (Nawico), Pommerelle Winery (both of which would later merge and eventually become Chateau Ste. Michelle) and Upland Winery opened. Upland was opened by William Bridgman who already own over 200 acres of vineyard plantings in the Yakima Valley and has been selling grapes to home winemakers for years. Soon after the winery's founding, Bridgman hired Erich Steenborg, a German winemaker trained at the Geisenheim Institute, who would go on to make many of Washington's first vinifera wines including the state's first dry Riesling.^[1]

The years after prohibition also saw the formation of the Washington State Liquor Board and the passing of the 1934 Steele Act which established many levels of protectionist policies that would take years to unravel. One of the most notable policies established was the allowance of Washington wine to be sold directly from producers to taverns and wholesalers while out-of-state and foreign wines could only be sold with the hard liquor at Washington State Liquor Board stores, after heavy taxation.^[1]

After World War II[edit]

The Nawico and Pommerelle wineries were the most widely recognized producers, making millions of gallons each year of sweet jug wine made from Concord and other varieties.^[4] While jointly operating through the war years, the two companies officially merged into one company in 1954 under the name American Wine Growers (AWG).^[1]

In the 1950s, the planting of Vitis vinifera saw an increase spearheaded, in part, by the work of Dr. Walter Clore and Washington State University which conducted a series of trials on which grape vines produced the best in various soils and climates of Washington.^[3] Another uptick in interest came from a group of professors from the University of Washington in Seattle who wanted to expand their home winemaking operations into a commercial endeavor that focused on producing European-style wines from only vinifera grapes. The professors, lead by psychology professor Dr. Lloyd S. Woodburne as head winemaker, began soliciting eastern Washington grape growers for more offering of premium grape varieties which they would transport, after harvest, over the mountains back to Seattle. The group officially incorporated as Associated Vintners in 1962 and purchased their own vineyard space in the Yakima Valley.^[1]

Discovery in the 1960s[edit]

Grenache was one of the first vinifera grapes to garner outside recognition for the state when a 1966 Yakima Valley rosé earned favorable mention in wine historian Leon Adams treatise The Wines of America.^[7] Traveling through the area in 1967, acclaimed California winemaker André Tchelistcheff from Beaulieu Vineyard in Napa Valley, tasted a dry Gewürztraminer produced by Associated Vintner and exclaimed it as one of the best American wines he had ever tasted.^[1] This peaked his interest in Washington wines and he was soon hired by American Wine Growers as a consultant. That same year AWG began releasing wines under the label of Chateau Ste. Michelle.^[6]

The end of protectionism[edit]

^[1]

Gaining critical acclaim[edit]

The 1970s ushered in a period of expansion with early vineyards being planted in the Columbia Gorge, Walla Walla and Red Mountain areas. The 1978 Leonetti Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon was featured on the cover of a national wine publication and touted as the best Cabernet of vintage. The 1980s saw further expansion with the opening of large, scale family owned wineries such as Woodward Canyon, L'Ecole N°41, Barnard Griffin and Hogue Cellars that soon won many awards from national and international wine competition. In 1988, Chateau Ste Michelle was named "Best American Winery" and in 1989 five Washington wines made Wine Spectator's "Top 100 list" for the first time.^[7]

Red wine boom of the 1990s[edit]

Following the broadcast in 1991 of the 60 Minutes episode on the so-called "French Paradox", American consumption of red wine saw a dramatic increase. The grape variety Merlot, in particular, proved to be very popular among consumers. The Washington Wine Commission made the marketing of the state's a focus putting Washington in prime position to capitalize on the new "Merlot craze". Plantings of the varietal increase more than fivefold and Washington Merlots were featured prominently on restaurant wine list across the country. From there producers went on to experiment with success on varieties and blends as the Washington wine industry steadily grew.^[7]

Early 2000s[edit]

By the beginning of the 21st century, the wine industry was generating more than 2.4 billion dollars annually for the state with wine grape being the fourth most important fruit crop in the state-behind apples, pears and cherries. By 2007 the state had certified its 500th winery.^[7] In early 2009, the state's 600th winery opened.^[12]

See also[edit]

• History of Washington (U.S. state)
• History of American wine

References[edit]