Washington Wine by Naked Winery

With the addition of our Wishram, Washington in 2007 facility Naked Winery became both an Oregon Winery and Washington Winery. Trailing only California in wine production Washington now has over 400 wineries producing wine from more than 20 grape varieties with 9 unique AVA's. That being said, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Chardonnay are the dominate varietals comprising more that 60% of the acreage in about equal proportion. The greater Columbia Valley (>15,000 acres in production) and has made Washington Wine Country famous for big, hedonistic and silky smooth Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon varietals.

Naked Winery's Washington vineyards are located in the Columbia Valley, a dry region east of the Cascade Range on the Wahluke Slope and in Horse Heaven Hills. We use the Columbia Valley AVA on our current releases of Barbera, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Meritage, Merlot, Nebbiolo and Sangiovese due to its widespread acclaim and national recognition.

Named "Wahluke," or "watering place" by the Native Americans who settled there, the 81,000-acre region features more than 20 vineyards. The Wahluke Slope, is Washington's eighth federally recognized American Viticultural Area (AVA) by United States Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) on Jan. 6, 2005. The Wahluke Slope AVA lies in the center of the Columbia Valley AVA and is bounded on the west and southern ends by the Columbia River, on the north by the Saddle Mountains and on the east by federal lands of the Hanford Reach National Monument.

Horse Heaven Hills is a range of rolling hills in Klickitat and Benton counties officially named in 1881 by James Kinney, a Yakima pioneer, "because the area offers excellent forage and comparative isolation". Large bands of wild horses once roamed the area. Kinney first unofficially named the hills in 1857 after seeing the knee-high grass of the hills for the first time he exclaimed "This is surely a horse heaven!"

The Horse Heaven Hills AVA was established on July 1, 2005 by United States Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) and borders the Yakima Valley AVA on the north and the Columbia River on the south. Elevations in this AVA range from 200 feet (61 m) above sea level in the south to 1,800 feet (549 m) above sea level at the northern boundary. Grapes planted in the south-facing slopes of the Horse Heaven Hills benefit from strong winds that arrive from the west via the Columbia Gorge, reducing the likelihood of rot and fungal diseases.

Temperatures are among the highest in the state (Zone 3), with a mean annual precipitation as low as any other wine-producing site in Washington State. This gives viticulturists complete control of vine vigor and ripening through small, carefully timed additions of irrigation through drip systems. Soils are characterized by their uniformity over large areas, excessively well drained character, and coarse
textures, which range from gravelly, to stratified sand, to loam. This promotes uniform quality and even ripening within vineyards.

Learn more about great Washington Wine and Wineries at the Washington Wine Commision.