Columbia Valley – two game changers

Sagemoor Vineyard in the White Bluffs AVA credit: Andrea Johnson Photography

DeLille's Chaleur Blanc and L'Ecole 41's Ferguson Vineyard set the regional bar high for elegance and ageability. Above, Sagemoor vineyard, source of some of the fruit for DeLille's Chaleur Blanc.

The fine-wine industry of Washington State and its Walla Walla Valley (part of which extends across the border into north-eastern Oregon) may be quite young but, even so, several wines continue to demonstrate the region’s potential to stand on the world stage.

For white wines, DeLille Cellars proved to be one of the first to show the sophistication and age-worthiness possible by creating a Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon bordeaux-style...