Puget Sound AVA
Puget Sound is an American Viticultural Area in northwest portion of Washington state encompassing Clallam, Island, Jefferson, King, Kitsap, Mason, Pierce, San Juan, Skagit, Snohomish, Thurston and Whatcom Counties. It is the only Washington AVA located west of the Cascade Mountains.
Puget Sound is an inlet of the Pacific Ocean extending about south from Admiralty Inlet and Juan de Fuca Strait to Olympia. It contains of land, of fresh water, and of saltwater. The viticultural area lies entirely within the land basin surrounding the Sound.
The Puget Sound viticultural area contains approximately 55% of the watershed's land area and water or of land and of water for a total area of. It has a maximum length of from north to south and from east to west, although it is most often less than wide.
The AVA was established by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Treasury on October 4, 1995, after reviewing a petition submitted by Gerard and Jo Ann Bentryn of Bainbridge Island Vineyards & Winery in Bainbridge Island, Washington, proposing a new viticultural area within the State of Washington to be known as "Puget Sound."
The region is almost entirely within hardiness zone 9a.
History
The name "Puget Sound" was established in 1791 by Captain George Vancouver when he named, explored, and mapped the area while in service to the British Admiralty. His maps and those of subsequent explorers, settlers and government agencies show the Puget Sound area with the countryside drained by rivers flowing into Puget Sound. Numerous references exist indicating the general use of the name "Puget Sound" to refer to the area. The petitioners included copies of title pages of various publications, guide and tour book references, public telephone book listings, and Federal and State agency maps, to illustrate the use of the name. They also submitted an excerpt from, "Touring the Washington Wine Country," 1993, published by the Washington Wine Commission. This publication discusses grape growing in western Washington and states that, "the expansive Puget Sound basin offers a temperate climate that rarely suffers from prolonged freezing weather in the winter and quite often enjoys a long and warm summer growing season."One of the earliest recorded plantings in the Puget Sound area was in 1872 by a Civil War veteran named Lambert Evans on Stretch Island, near modern-day Allyn-Grapeview. Evans planted apples and several varieties of "Vitis labrusca," an eastern North American native grape species suitable in the wet Puget Sound climate. In 1889, Aaron Eckert immigrated to Stretch Island from New York State and established a vineyard with grapes called "Island Belle." This variety is currently known as Campbell Early, which combines Vitis vinifera and Vitis labrusca vines. Island Belle was widely planted as a table and juice grape until Prohibition when it became used for home winemaking. There are a few of these "Island Belle" vines surviving and Hoodsport Winery has produced a wine from them with that name for decades.
Bainbridge Island Vineyard and Winery was established in 1977 and its founder Gerard Bentryn is credited with being the first to establish the aromatic German Siegerrebe grapes in the United States. Bentryn authored the ATF petition to propose Puget Sound as the 4th AVA established in Washington State in 1995. Bentryn is also credited being instrumental in bringing many of the cool climate varietals in common use today; he worked with Dr. Norton at Washington State University and had them imported from Saanich Farm Experimental Station in Canada, Geisenheim Grape Breeding Institute in Germany.
Terroir
Topography
The Puget Sound basin is a large lowland surrounding bodies of salt water called in government reports Puget Sound or "Puget Sound and Adjacent Waters." These waters comprise Puget Sound, a long, wide ocean inlet. The basin is cut by many rivers flowing into the Sound. Low rolling hills formed by the deposit and erosion of advancing and retreating glaciers are cut by ravines and stream channels. The dominating natural features are the sound itself and the surrounding mountains. The Olympic Mountains form the western boundary of the Puget Sound basin. These mountains intercept moist maritime Pacific air and account for the relatively low annual precipitation. The Cascade Mountain range forms the eastern boundary of the Puget Sound basin. These mountains protect the basin from the extremely cold winters and hot summers of eastern Washington. Elevations in the basin are primarily between sea-level and. Isolated hills of up to occur primarily in the northeast but none of the existing vineyards is above in elevation.Climate
The climate of Puget Sound is well differentiated from that of surrounding areas. The Olympic Mountains to the west and the Cascade Mountains to the east protect the region from the cool wet influence of the Pacific Ocean and the extreme summer and winter temperatures of eastern Washington. The Strait of Juan de Fuca and associated waterways separate Puget Sound from the cooler summer areas to the north. Foothills to the south of the Puget Sound viticultural area are the limit of the area influenced by the moderating effect of the waters of the Sound. Both summer and winter temperatures are significantly cooler in the hills and mountains to the west,south, and east. The western, eastern and southern boundaries of the Puget Sound viticultural area closely follow the line formed by a growing season of 180 days and the of annual precipitation. All areas within the viticultural area below in elevation have a 180-day or longer growing season with or less of annual rainfall, and or less of rainfall in the months of April to October. Areas outside of, but adjacent to, the viticultural area to the west, south, and east have a growing season of generally less than 180 days, with more than of annual rainfall, and more than of rainfall in the months of April to October. Examples of weather recording stations surrounding the Puget Sound region are as follows: To the west is Forks, with a growing season of 175 days and an annual precipitation of . To the southeast is Paradise Ranger Station, with a growing season of 50 days and an annual precipitation of . To the east is Diablo Dam with a growing season of 170 days and an annual precipitation of . To the northeast is Heather Meadows Recreational Area with a growing season of 150 days and an annual precipitation of . The northerly border of the viticultural area closely conforms to the temperature boundary of areas experiencing a mean high temperature in the warmest month of or greater. Cool air from the Pacific Ocean moves east through the Strait of Juan de Fuca during the growing season limiting the reliable ripening of winegrapes in the areas west of the Elwha River and outside the line formed by the western boundaries of Clallam, San Juan, and Whatcom Counties and the northern boundary of Whatcom County. Examples of areas to the northwest of the viticultural area with mean high temperatures in the warmest month which are lower than are: Forks, Washington, ; Clallam Bay, Washington, ; Victoria, British Columbia, ; and Sidney, British Columbia,.