The Rocks District of Milton-Freewater AVA (The Rocks District) is an

American Viticultural Area An American Viticultural Area (AVA) is a designated wine grape-growing region in the United States, providing an official appellation for the mutual benefit of winery, wineries and consumers. Winemakers frequently want their consumers to know abo ...

that is a sub-

appellation An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication primarily used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown, although other types of food often have appellations as well. Restrictions other than geographical boun ...

of the

Walla Walla Valley AVA The Walla Walla Valley AVA is an American Viticultural Area located within Washington state and extending partly into the northeastern corner of Oregon. The wine region is entirely included within the larger Columbia Valley AVA. In addition to ...

, which itself is a sub-appellation of the

Columbia Valley AVA The Columbia Valley AVA is an American Viticultural Area which lies in the Columbia River Plateau, through much of central and southern Washington State, with a small section crossing into the neighboring state of Oregon. The AVA includes the d ...

. It is named for the city of

Milton-Freewater, Oregon Milton-Freewater is a city in Umatilla County, Oregon, United States. The city received its current name in 1951 when the neighboring rival cities of Milton and Freewater voted to merge. The population was 7,151 at the 2020 census. It is part of ...

, and a unique

alluvial fan An alluvial fan is an accumulation of sediments that fans outwards from a concentrated source of sediments, such as a narrow canyon emerging from an escarpment. They are characteristic of mountainous terrain in arid to semiarid climates, but a ...

resulting in rocky soils with "baseball sized" basalt

cobbles Cobblestone is a natural building material based on cobble-sized stones, and is used for pavement roads, streets, and buildings. Setts, also called Belgian blocks, are often casually referred to as "cobbles", although a sett is distinct fro ...

covering the earth, and is notable as being "the only AVA in the United States whose boundaries are defined by the soil type". Unique wine flavors are said to result from the mineral composition, hydrology, and temperatures of the volcanic rocks.

History

Washington State geologist and

terroir (, ; from ''terre'', "land") is a French term used to describe the environmental factors that affect a crop's phenotype, including unique environment contexts, farming practices and a crop's specific growth habitat. Collectively, these conte ...

consultant Kevin Pogue submitted the proposal for the new AVA to the U.S. government. The AVA was published for comment in the Federal Register in February 2014, and was established in February 2015.

Controversies

The AVA, unlike the Walla Walla Valley AVA, and the Walla Walla Valley itself, lies entirely within the state of Oregon. This has implications for use of the appellation on wines produced in Oregon and Washington. Because Federal rules require wines to be fully finished in the state in which the AVA lies, only a handful of Oregon wineries, out of the more than 100 wineries in both states in the Walla Walla Valley, would be permitted to use the appellation on their product. At the same time, Oregon wineries as far away as

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

could use the appellation. This has caused some, labeled "prominent dissenters" by ''

Wine Spectator ''Wine Spectator'' is an American lifestyle magazine that focuses on wine and wine culture, and gives out ratings to certain types of wine. It publishes 15 issues per year with content that includes news, articles, profiles, and general entertain ...

s Harvey Steiman, to oppose the AVA. Other reactions were less pointed with wine publishers using terms like "a bit of controversy" and "the location...creates some nuances". One of the same publishers said a "sub-appellation was ... inevitable given the uniqueness of the soils and resulting wines".

Critical reception

''Wine Spectators two top-rated Northwest wines , both

Syrah Syrah (), also known as Shiraz, is a dark-skinned grape variety grown throughout the world and used primarily to produce red wine. In 1999, Syrah was found to be the offspring of two obscure grapes from southeastern France, Dureza and Mondeuse B ...

s, and both of which scored 98 out of 100, were from the AVA.

Footnotes

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

*
Federal Register: Notice of proposed rulemakingGovernment docket TTB-2014-0003
including proposed AVA maps and other documents
Federal Register: Establishment of The Rocks District of Milton-Freewater Viticultural Area
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rocks AVA American Viticultural Areas 2015 establishments in Oregon Oregon wine Geography of Umatilla County, Oregon