Driving east from the Columbia Gorge AVA (see yesterday’s blog), you cross immediately into the Columbia Valley AVA. This reaches across the river also into parts of northern Oregon, and some vineyard development is occurring on both sides of the river. The landscape quickly changes, as you leave the rain shadow of the Cascades for the scrub desert of eastern Washington and eastern Oregon.
The view is spectacular from either side of the river. From the Oregon side you’ll get a better look at some of the Washington vineyards in the Horse Heaven Hills AVA (a sub-set of the Columbia Valley), which reaches down to the river but does not cross it. Some of this state’s largest and most productive vineyards are located here, including Alder Ridge, the two Canoe Ridges, the vast Columbia Crest vineyards, Champoux and its satellites, Destiny Ridge, McKinley Springs, and Wallula/The Benches. But I digress.