PORTLAND – A federal agency has signed off on plans to designate a new wine-growing region that encompasses both the Oregon and Washington sides of the Columbia River.
The Columbia Gorge Viticultural Area will be the seventh of Oregon’s viticultural areas when it becomes official July 10.
The area spans Hood River and Wasco counties in Oregon, and Skamania and Klickitat counties in Washington.
“The big deal about this is that growers on both sides of the Columbia River are working together to make this happen,” said David Adelsheim, president of the Oregon Wine Board, told The Oregonian newspaper. “It shows that geography is more important than state lines where agriculture and wine growing is concerned.”
The federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau approved the new designation.
Officials reviewing such petitions must find that a proposed growing region has enough unique characteristics, such as elevation, soils, climate and geographical features, to warrant its own designation.
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