The Willamette Valley is a vast and varied appellation that includes ten nested AVAs | Chehalem Mountains, Dundee Hills, Eola-Amity Hills, Laurelwood District, Lower Long Tom, McMinnville, Ribbon Ridge, Tualatin Hills, Van Duzer Corridor, and Yamhill-Carlton. We are going to highlight each AVA and provide some hopefully fun and useful history along the way.
Chehalem Mountains AVA |
The Chehalem Mountains AVA is an American Viticultural Area (AVA) located in the Yamhill and Washington counties of northwestern Oregon. It contains two sub-regions, Laurelwood District AVA and Ribbon Ridge AVA. The petition process for the creation of the Chehalem Mountains AVA began in 2001 and was led by David Adelsheim of Adelsheim Vineyard. The AVA was officially established in 2006. The Chehalem Mountains AVA corresponds to the Chehalem Mountains and is entirely contained within the Willamette Valley AVA. The region stretches 20 miles from Northwest of Wilsonville,OR to the southeast to Forest Grove in the northwest featuring the elevations of Ribbon Ridge, Parrett Mountain and Bald Peak. Bald Peak is actually the highest peak in the Chehalem Mountains, and is 1,636 feet at the top affecting weather for the AVA and for adjoining grape growing hillsides. It is the geography and climate that differentiate this AVA from others. The three important hillside soil types are represented | basaltic, ocean sedimentary and loess, the predominant soil on the northern face of the Chehalem Mountains. Within the almost 70,000 acres of this AVA are over 2,600 acres of grapes, grown in over 179 vineyards, and 53 wineries. The most planted grapes in this region are | Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc and Chardonnay.
Chehalem Mountains AVA