To understand why the area is a great place to grow grapes, thus being a great place to make wine, one has to travel back millions of years to the beginning of the Cenozoic Era. More than 60 million years ago, Walla Walla’s rich soil was created by extensive lava flows and a massive flood that covered the landscape in large basalt flows. This eroded the landscape away and left a fertile valley that today has the right combination of loam, silt, loess and cobbles in the soil to create ideal vintages.
The Walla Walla region enjoys two hours more of summer sunlight than in California wine regions. There is an average of 300 days of sunshine a year, along with Walla Walla’s position east of the Cascade mountain range, limits the amount of rainfall allowing growers to control precisely the amount of water the vines receives through irrigation. These long warm summer days and short cool nights produce a perfect balance of sugars and acidity.