Seattle, WA

Once a part of the Columbia Valley appellation, the Yakima Valley appellation was determined to be a distinct appellation in 1983 and became authorized as an official American Viticultural Area (AVA/appellation). An appellation is a geographical-based term used to distinguish where the grapes for a given wine are grown. Appellation rules are governed by the country in which the wine is produced. In the United States appellations are governed by the American Viticultural Area (AVA) The Yakima Valley AVA was the first AVA to be established in the state of Washington.

Although the Yakima Valley is a booming wine region currently making headlines, vineyards aren’t exactly new to the region. In fact, the first vines are said to have been planted in 1869! People who are not native to Washington state are often surprised to learn that Eastern Washington is semi-arid desert. The combination of sunshine, volcanic enriched soil and the benefits of an early established irrigation system makes it the Yakima Valley an area ripe for farming. On average the Yakima Valley region has 300 days of sunshine a year, a far cry from it’s western sister cities! Apparently that nets them approximately 200 growing days per year. Volcanic soil is said to be twice as productive as regular soil. In addition, the desert nights are up to 40% cooler thereby helping to preserve the acids while the daytime heat develops the sugars. That’s rather hard combination to beat. There are places in the Valley where you can stand at four corners and see four different crops growing, apples, hops, grapes, corn. Speaking of corn, I’ve never had better sweet corn than in Yakima Valley. In fact, the county ranks first in the nation in the production of apples, winter pears, fruit trees, hops, and mint, with pears, grapes, cherries, peaches, and apricots also coming in as major crops. As a final note, the Yakima Valley shares the same latitude as the Bordeaux region in France.

Now that you’ve had your history lesson for the day, let’s talk about my visit to Bonair Winery.

Bonair Winery
500 South Bonair Road, Zillah 98953
800.882.8939
509.829.6027
Fax: 509.829.6410
www.bonairwine.com
winemaker@bonairwine.com
Hours: Daily 10-5. Winter hours daily 10-4:30

The thing that first attracted me to Bonair was the simple fact that they make mead. That’s fairly non-traditional and I just had to try it! I was surprised to find that the folks at Bonair had carved out a little European-looking villa. One side looking very German and the other looking more Italian all with a beautiful little pond, complete with ducks! There was even the sweetest baby gosling.

The second thing that caught my attention was that they served tapas, and I was hungry. A hungry diabetic is a not a pretty sight. The Bonair Winery produces grapes from two vineyards, the Château Puryear Vineyard and the Morrison Vineyard. Planted in 1968, the Morrison Vineyard is the oldest of the Rattlesnake Hills vineyards. I started with the Sweet Mead, but I didn’t find it to be all that sweet, nor to my liking. Their Riesling, however, was just lovely, with silky pear undertones. I liked it so well that I bought a bottle! Next I tried the Bonny Bonair, a dryish Pinot Noir that was fruity, light and ideal for a summer luncheon. Finally we tried the ports. Oddly, they carry a white port! I’d never heard of a white port so of course we had to try it. The Yakima Valley Gewurztraminer White Port was certainly interesting and nice but for me it lacked the complex flavours of a ruby or a tawny port. Their Cabernet Franc Port, on the other hand is a rich and complex ruby port that I’d welcome on my table any day of the week.

With the tasting out of the way we shared a tapas plate of summer sausages and cheeses and settled onto their patio to watch the ducks, sip a glass of Bonnie Bonair and relax.

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Rattlesnake Hills, Rattlesnake Hills Wine Trail, wineries, Yakima Valley, Bonair Winery, Bonair, Morrison Vineyard, mead, wine, vineyards, Washington, ducks, duck pond, tapas