ABSTRACT The geomorphology, soils, and climate of Columbia Basin vineyards are the result of a complex and dynamic geologic history that includes the Earth's youngest flood basalts, an active fold belt, and repeated cataclysmic flooding. Miocene basalt of the Columbia River Basalt Group forms the bedrock for most vineyards. The basalt has been folded by north-south compression, creating the Yakima fold belt, a series of relatively tight anticlines separated by broad synclines. Topography related to these structures has strongly influenced the boundaries of many of the Columbia Basin's American Viticultural Areas (AVAs). Water gaps in the anticlinal ridges of the Yakima fold belt restrict cold air drainage from the broad synclinal basins where many vineyards are located, enhancing the development of temperature inversions and locally increasing diurnal temperature variations. Vineyards planted on the southern limbs of Yakima fold belt anticlines benefit from enhanced solar radiation and cold air drainage. Most Columbia Basin vineyards are planted in soils formed in eolian sediment that is primarily derived from the deposits of Pleistocene glacial outburst floods. The mineralogy of the eolian sediment differs substantially from the underlying basalt. Vineyard soil chemistry is thus more complex in areas where eolian sediment is comparatively thin and basalt regolith lies within the rooting zone. The components of physical terroir that broadly characterize the Columbia Basin, such as those described above, vary substantially both between and within its AVAs. The vineyards visited on this field trip are representative of both their AVAs and the variability of terroir within the Columbia Basin.

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Full article available in PDF version.