Right Bank

The term refers to all of the appellations of Bordeaux that are on the right side of the Gironde River as it flows out to the Atlantic Ocean. The main grape varieties used for Right Bank wines are merlot and cabernet franc. The well-known communes of Pomerol and St.-Emilion reside on the Right Bank.

Washington State’s first AVA was created in the same year that Gandhi won the Academy Award for Best Picture and Meryl Streep won the Best Actress Award for Sophie’s Choice. What was that AVA?

A. Yakima Valley

B. Columbia Valley

C. Snake River Valley

D. Walla Walla Valley

The Yakima Valley, an American Viticultural Area established in 1983, was the first AVA in Washington State. It’s more than 600,000 acres in size and is located about 155 miles southeast of Seattle on the eastern side of the Cascade Mountain range. The AVA is best known for merlot, cabernet sauvignon and chardonnay and several prominent Washington vineyards are located here including Boushey, Ciel du Cheval and Olsen. The Columbia Valley AVA and the Walla Walla AVA were both created in 1984, a year after the Yakima AVA. And the Snake River AVA, created in 2007, is not in Washington. It straddles Oregon and Idaho.

Acidification

A process practiced in warm wine regions whereby a winemaker adds acid to fermenting wine in order to boost that wine’s low level of acidity. Acidification is legal and widely practiced in many parts of… Continue reading

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