The Rattlesnake Hills AVA is home to some of the state’s oldest wineries and some of the youngest. Mostly, they are winegrowers who raise their own grapes. And you’ll often find the owner in the tasting room.
Rattlesnake Hills: The new Yakima Valley AVA
The Yakima Valley Appelation is part of one of the top five wine regions of the world.
And now, the beautiful rolling hills in the heart of Washington’s wine country encompass a distinct viticultural region that has received its own American Viticultural Area designation: Rattlesnake Hills.
The fruition of early work by Gail and Shirley Puryear of Bonair Winery near Zillah and through efforts of the other 14 wineries in the AVA, the federal designation came after a process that took two years.
The Rattlesnake Hills AVA is home to some of the state’s oldest wineries and some of the youngest. Mostly, they are winegrowers who raise their own grapes. And you’ll often find the owner in the tasting room.
Marketing themselves as the Rattlesnake Hills Wine Trail even before the designation was granted, the wineries are located in an area of small towns and hamlets.
A sister organization, Rattlesnake Hills Tourist Trail, is comprised of the wineries and several other entities, which contribute to a fund to market the area to visitors.
The Rattlesnake Hills is the midsection of a geologic uplift, running from Mt. Adams to the confluence of the Columbia and Yakima Rivers. The area below 1,300 feet elevation has flood-deposited soils from the last Ice Age.
Clear blue skies and less than eight inches of precipitation mean loads of sunshine to keep the vines happy and dry.
As the winegrowers like to say, there are no rattlesnakes, just fun and good wines.
The wineries in the RHWT include Bonair Winery, Claar Cellars, Eaton Hill Winery, Horizon’s Edge Winery, Hyatt Vineyards, Maison de Padgett Winery, Masset Winery, Paradisos del Sol, Piety Flats Winery, Portteus Vineyards, Sagelands Vineyard, Silver Lake at Roza Hills, Tefft Cellars, Two Mountain Winery, and Windy Point Vineyards.
For more information and a list of events, visit the website: www.rattlesnakehills.com