The Wine Knows

There is no doubt that Oregon dominates the Pacific Northwest Pinot Noir scene. That will always be the case, I am assured.

But it's no longer just a "Willamette Valley" appellation wine. I am stunned by the vast number of appellations carried on the bottles of Pinot Noir we judged for our Spring issue report.

Here are the appellations we encountered:

Oregon AVAs
Oregon
Willamette Valley
Yamhill-Carlton District
Eola-Amity Hills
Dundee Hills
McMinnville
Ribbon Ridge
Chehalem Mountains
Columbia Gorge
Columbia Valley
Umpqua Valley
Rogue Valley
Red Hill Douglas County

Washington AVAs
Washington
Columbia Valley
Rattlesnake Hills
Clark County

British Columbia DVAs
British Columbia
Okanagan Valley
Gulf Islands
Vancouver Island

Idaho AVAs
Snake River Valley

That's 22 Northwest appellations making Pinot Noir (technically 21, as Columbia Valley is listed twice - once for grapes on the Oregon side of the Columbia and once for the Washington side).

The appellations we didn't taste? A much smaller list:

Walla Walla Valley (Ore./Wash.)
Applegate Valley (Ore.)
Red Mountain (Wash.)
Wahluke Slope (Wash.)
Horse Heaven Hills (Wash.)
Puget Sound (Wash.)
Similkameen Valley (B.C.)
Fraser Valley (B.C.)

I'm mildly surprised we didn't get any Puget Sound Pinots, as there are a couple of producers. We also didn't see any listed for "Yamhill County," a designation that enjoyed some popularity before the six new north Willamette Valley appellations were approved.