The Yakima Valley is Washington wine's origin story — the first commercial vineyards were planted here in the 1960s, the first AVA was established here in 1983, and the region continues to produce the broadest range of wine styles in the state. Stretching from Yakima city east through Zillah, Sunnyside, Prosser, and toward Benton City, it encompasses some of Washington's most diverse and distinguished wine-growing terrain.
The valley's semi-arid high desert climate — 300+ days of sunshine, warm days, cold nights, and volcanic basalt soils — creates conditions of concentrated flavor and natural acidity. Riesling was the variety that established Yakima Valley's international reputation, and it remains a signature: the off-dry, aromatic style pioneered here by Chateau Ste. Michelle has influenced Riesling production across the Pacific Northwest.
Red Mountain, at the eastern end of the Yakima Valley, is Washington's most concentrated premium wine sub-region — a 4,040-acre AVA producing Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot of extraordinary density and age-worthiness from thin-soiled, wind-swept slopes facing the Yakima River. Rattlesnake Hills, a warmer, sun-baked ridge above Zillah and Grandview, produces bold Syrah, Cabernet, and late-harvest whites from producers who have made the ridge their own.
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