Washington's Columbia Gorge viticultural area offers great grape variety

Washington's Columbia Gorge AVA (viticultural area) was officially approved in 2004.

This is not the same Gorge as the famous concert venue. This Gorge spans the Washington/Oregon border on the eastern edge of the Cascades. And like the Columbia Valley and Walla Walla Valley AVAs, it includes vineyards in both states. Apart from the striking beauty of the Gorge itself — a four-season, recreational wonderland — the AVA is notable, at least from a grape-growing/ winemaking standpoint, for its diversity of climates and growing conditions.

At its western edge on the Washington side, it includes some of the highest-elevation vineyards in the state, notably Celilo. The Cascade foothills get enough annual rainfall to make irrigation optional for some growers, and the principal grapes are cool-climate varieties such as chardonnay, gewürztraminer, pinot gris, riesling, albarino and grüner veltliner. Some rare Washington pinot noir is also planted, and showing excellent potential.

On the Oregon side, a cluster of vineyards and wineries around the town of Hood River also produces a fair amount of pinot noir, grown at lower elevations in a slightly warmer climate. Then, as you drive east, the landscape rather quickly changes. The evergreen forests and fruit orchards give way to dry-land desert on both sides of the river.

The little town of Lyle roughly marks the eastern boundary of the appellation on the Washington side, but the region's vineyards and wineries continue, occupying the southwest corner of the huge Columbia Valley AVA. Here the annual rainfall is less than a third of the vineyards just a few miles to the west. Hot-climate grapes such as barbera, syrah and zinfandel are the stars.

Most of the roughly two dozen wineries located in the Columbia Gorge region produce wines from other appellations as well. But it is the emerging profile of a specific local terroir that is particularly exciting to explore. Look for wines sourced from the Celilo, Underwood Mountain, Phelps Creek, Oak Ridge and Wy'East vineyards in particular.

Wine touring in the region can easily be mixed with a dizzying range of outdoor activities — the Gorge is a sports lover's paradise. There are plenty of restaurants, B&Bs, spas and museums, and an excellent guide is published by the Columbia River Gorge Visitors Association (www.GorgeVisitor.com). For more winery-specific information, visit www.ColumbiaGorgewine.com; be sure to request their excellent brochure (866-413-9463).

On a recent swing through the region, I tasted Columbia Gorge wines from a number of producers, including Syncline, Phelps Creek, The Pines, Cor Cellars, McCormick Family Vineyards and Viento.

Here are some of my favorites.

McCormick Family Vineyards

101 Lyle-Snowden Road, Lyle.

Open 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Thursday

through Sunday; 360-635-2887,

www.winesofthegorge.com

The winery tasting room hangs over the Lyle Bench, above the Columbia River where Lewis and Clark camped on April 14, 1806. The first release is the 2006 Memaloose Corps Red, a blend of cabernet franc, sangiovese and cabernet sauvignon.

Phelps Creek Vineyards

1850 Country Club Road,

Hood River. Open 11 a.m.-5 p.m.

Thursday through Monday;

541-386-2607,

www.phelpscreekvineyards.com

The estate vineyard grows pinot noir and chardonnay, both excellent. Also recommended is the Phelps Creek 2007 Oak Ridge Vineyard Gewürztraminer, a lovely, floral, leesy, crisp and elegant wine blessed with a thrilling raciness.

Syncline

111 Balch Road, Lyle.

Open 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Wednesday

through Sunday; 509-365-4361,

www.synclinewine.com

At Syncline, James and Poppie Mantone are making a stellar lineup of (mostly) Rhone-inspired wines. But from the neighboring Celilo vineyard comes this astonishing Syncline 2006 Celilo Vineyard Pinot Noir ($25). For the moment, this is the textbook example of what Washington pinot noir should be: elegant, refined, aromatic, svelte and graceful.

Viento

No tasting-room hours.

541-386-3026, www.vientowines.com

Rich Cushman is the veteran Oregon winemaker behind Viento, and the project has inspired him to move from the Willamette Valley to Hood River. He's making a wide variety of Gorge-sourced wines. Especially notable are the Viento 2006 Allegre Vineyard Verona White ($14); the Viento 2006 Underwood Mountain Vineyard Dry Riesling ($18); and, most unusual of all, the Viento 2007 Underwood Mountain Vineyard Grüner Veltliner.

The Pines

202 State St., Hood River.

Open noon-6 p.m. Wednesday

through Monday; 541-993-8301,

www.thepinesvineyard.com

Lonnie Wright's vineyard is a bit east of the AVA, but he makes a selection of wines from grapes purchased throughout the Gorge region. Most notable is his own Old Vine Zinfandel, from vines nearly a century old — the same fruit that goes into Peter Rosback's Sineann old-vine bottling.

Dowsett Family

No tasting-room hours.

509-527-8738

Chris Dowsett, formerly at Latitude 46 winery, is now the on-site winemaker at Walla Walla's Artifex facility. He also has his own brand, and continues to make a Celilo Vineyard Gewürztraminer from the same 1984 planting at Celilo's upper block as before. The just-released Dowsett Family 2007 Gewürz ($22) was not available for a preview tasting, but based on Dowsett's track record, I would expect nothing but the best.

Cor Cellars

151 Old Highway 8, Lyle. Open

11 a.m.-6 p.m. Wednesday

through Sunday; 509-365-2744

This new winery, clustered near McCormick and Syncline, has not yet found a consistent style. But I did enjoy the Cor Cellars 2006 Columbia View Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc ($14), a sharp, spicy, wine with sweet grassy flavors.

Paul Gregutt is the author of "Washington Wines and Wineries The Essential Guide."

His column appears weekly in the

Wine section. He can be reached by e-mail

at wine@seattletimes.com.