Washington ranks second in the United States (behind California) in the production of wine. While there are some viticultural activities in the cooler, wetter western half of the state, the majority (99.9%) of wine grape production takes place in the shrub-steppe eastern half. The rain shadow of the Cascade Range leaves the Columbia River Basin with around 8 inches (200 mm) of annual rain fall, making irrigation and water rights of paramount interest to the Washington wine industry. Viticulture in the state is also influenced by long sunlight hours (on average, two more hours a day than in California during the growing season) and consistent temperatures. Washington has fourteen American Viticultural Areas with all but one located in Eastern Washington. The largest AVA is the Columbia Valley AVA, which extends into a small portion of northern Oregon and encompasses most of the other Washington AVAs. These include the Lewis-Clark AVA, the Ancient Lakes AVA, Walla Walla Valley AVA, which encompasses Oregon’s The Rocks District of Milton-Freewater AVA, Horse Heaven Hills AVA, the Wahluke Slope AVA, Lake Chelan AVA, Naches Heights AVA, and the Yakima Valley AVA, which in turn also encompasses the Rattlesnake Hills AVA, Snipes Mountain AVA, the Red Mountain AVA, and the Candy Mountain AVA. The Columbia Gorge AVA is west of the Columbia Valley AVA. Washington’s only AVA located west of the Cascades is the Puget Sound AVA.

One of the most-visited areas for wine tourists is the Woodinville Wine Country, less than 30 minutes from downtown Seattle. Though there are no vineyards in this area, and few wine-making facilities, a large number of Washington wineries have tasting rooms in Woodenville—for easy acces to the population of Seattle & Tacoma.

See winery listings for this region