At our custom crush facility with the barrel storage, we will zero in on the Red Mountain AVA, one of the crown jewels of Washington wine country. This AVA makes some of the best red wine in the world from grape varietals that are regarded highly by most in the wine industry as top-tiered premium wine grapes. We will also touch upon a few other of Washington state’s notable AVAs and discuss their top suggested plantings. Let’s strap in and go for a ride!
We have some of our finest fruit coming from the Shaw Vineyards which manages most of the vineyards on Red Mountain AVA. This relationship has been a long time in coming together, and we are looking forward to many more years of terrific wine produced no matter the vintage. For us, Washington state’s Red Mountain AVA allows us to produce some amazingly high-quality red wine and for the wine consumer in Pennsylvania, it allows us to introduce not only PA residents but also all of our out-of-state customers to Washington state wines and the delights that the Red Mountain AVA has to offer via our custom crush operations.
Red Mountain AVA: The Crown Jewel
In terms of red wine production, consider Red Mountain AVA, in eastern Washington State, where a modest just-under-4,040 acres produces some of the mightiest, most robust, and longest-lived red wines in the country.
Terroir and Climate: What is special about the terroir of Red Mountain AVA? The Red Mountain AVA has the perfect combination of the long sunny days and cool nights making great diurnal temperature variation. As the diurnal temperature variation is the idea factor to produce vine, perfectly ripen vinifera grapes and maintain the acidity right for wine balance which in turn makes the wine more complex. Based on the sandy loam and gravel soils, the vine has better drainage and develops the root deeper, making the root deeply penetrate underground. The gravel and sand soil are the fine soil and rich in calcium and potassium, the mineral in soils produce the bigger structure and intense of the grape.
Signature Varietals: Red Mountain AVA is particularly famous for its bold red varietals. Let’s take a closer look at some of the stars of this region:
- Cabernet Sauvignon: Cabernet Sauvignon is the king of Red Mountain, as it were: inky, garnet in color, with bold, deep black fruit flavors, and formidable tannic structure. Expect flavors of black currant, black berry, violet, mineral, leather and coffee, with an almost brooding structure, where the flavors linger long in the mouth.
- Merlot: Lush and velvety textures meld with ripe flavors of plum, brambly cherry and chocolate Red Mountain Merlot is a great everyday wine.
- Syrah: Red Mountain Syrah delivers blackberry, black-pepper and smoked-meat intensity, with a full-body, wide-angle intensity, spicy kick and teeth-staining tannins.
- Cabernet Franc: This varietal also performs well here, with a floral nose of raspberry, green pepper and violet, balanced with bright acidity and supple tannins on the palate.
Other Notable Washington AVAs
Red Mountain AVA, of course, is the state’s superstar AVA, but Washington State also supports a fleet of other dazzling AVAs, each with its own distinct terroir and star varieties. Here is a summary of other notable AVAs:
- Columbia Valley AVA: The largest AVA in Washington, and quite diverse, it makes up about a third of the state’s vineyard acreage and contains several sub‑AVAs producing a wide range of varietals.
- Riesling: Columbia Valley produces some of the most characterful aromatic wines in the US, with zippy acidity and exotic flavors of green apple, pear and jasmine.
- Chardonnay: Look for apple, pear and citrus flavors, as well as a bit of oak, depending on the wine-maker’s style of barrel-aging.
- Walla Walla Valley AVA: This AVA straddles the Washington-Oregon border and is distinguished by a unique terroir.
- Syrah: Walla Walla is famously known for this varietal, silky and complex, dark berry, smoked meat and black olive.
- Cabernet Sauvignon: This AVA can also showcase excellent Cabernet Sauvignon crafted with deep dark fruit and greater tannin structure.
- Yakima Valley AVA: As Washington State’s first American Viticultural Area – and among the nation’s first – Yakima Valley has a deep history and, appropriately, a brooding diversity of wines.
- Chardonnay: Yakima Valley Chardonnay has crisp acidity and notes of green apple and citrus, often with a mineral quality.
- Merlot: This region produces lush, fruit-forward Merlot with flavors of cherry, plum, and chocolate.
- Horse Heaven Hills AVA: The strong winds and sunny days make for deeply concentrated bottles of wine.
- Cabernet Sauvignon: Horse Heaven Hills Cabernet Sauvignon is both bold and graceful, offering notes of black cherry, cassis, and cedar.
- Sauvignon Blanc: These grapes produce a wine that’s high in acidity and tastes of grapefruit, lime, gooseberry or tropical fruit.
- Lake Chelan AVA: Wines from this unique glacial soil AVA near the lake tend to be spicy, aromatic and bracing.
- Pinot Noir: Lake Chelan Pinot Noir has a light lyrical quality with red cherry, raspberry and earth.
- Gewürztraminer: Floral and spicy, this is a fragrant, off-dry variety that goes well with Asian food.
- Naches Heights AVA: This high-elevation AVA is know for volcanic soils and a cool climate producing aromatic whites and light Pinot Noirs.
- Pinot Gris: Expect crisp acidity and flavors of pear, melon, and citrus from this bottle of wine.
- Pinot Noir: Light-bodied with flavors of red cherry, cranberry, and a hint of spice.
Experience Washington’s Best at Cellar Beast
Now it’s time to turn these Washington sourced grapes into wines to bring to your table. Cellar Beast’s custom crush winery is producing wines from Red Mountain and other Washington State AVAs. We’d like to bring these premier wines from the very best terroir to our custom crush facility for you to enjoy.
Conclusion
No matter what wine style you enjoy drinking there’s an AVA in Washington…be it the muscle wines of Red Mountain or the silky wines of Lake Chelan …there’s something for every palate. Inquire in our e-commerce wine shop where there are reds, whites, and even blends to buy and ship to you from Washington where every bottle is adorned with our Cellar Beast signature on the label.
Here’s an open invitation for you to come taste our wines for your next private party. Whether a big bash or an intimate affair, we’ll put on an event that will give your guests something to talk about for a long time! We’ll continue to post about brewery, winery, and industry trends. For now, cheers, and our bottles, we hope to send some your way soon!
About Cellar Beast:
An independent winery and a strong work ethic team of wine makers, wine producers, and sommeliers selecting and curating a level of service and presenting a library of dry wines to the wine business. We will educate a custom crush client on the exquisite pallet of flavors from grapes from the West Coast via our custom crush services, custom wine label services, and bulk wine offerings. You will notice a selection of quality wines in our exceptional wine campus, especially in a.French winemaking style where we stand out in an area that is known for sweet wines. When coming in for one of our tasting sessions amongst barrel storage, you are coming in for a wine class. We designed the tasting to tantalize your palate, unveil your sense of smell from primary to complex, blind tasting, and opening up your mind to be able to taste and enjoy a wide variety of quality custom crush wines with the Cellar Beast emblem on them, or your own wine labels without spending tons of money.
And to the wine club members, we present selection of bottles of wine including sparkling wines made in Méthode Champenoise, dry white & dry reds wines that will surprise and change your perception in this wine business when it comes to quality of wines. The Cellar Beast small lot wine winemaking process has been awarded Double Golds and Best in class in different wine competitions, 97 rating points in Sonoma competitions across different categories of wine, all with custom wine labels with our touch.
