Echolands, 2019 Cabernet Franc, Walla Walla Valley, WA, USA
Echolands Winery was established in 2018 by Master of Wine and Master Sommelier Doug Frost and conservationist Brad Bergman. Born in Portland, Oregon, Doug has always been a champion for the wines of the Pacific Northwest, and in particular a fan of Washington State Cabernet Franc. The project came out of the desire to not only showcase the range of terroirs across the Walla Walla Valley, but also bring greater attention and recognition to Cabernet Franc from Walla Walla and the diversity of expressions of the grape from across the region. Doug, alongside winemaker Brian Rubin and vineyard managers Sadie Drury and Nick Mackay, together are currently working with about 9 acres of Cabernet Franc across 3 vineyard sites in the Walla Walla Valley, Taggart Vineyard and Seven Hills Vineyard on the Oregon side of the AVA, and Blue Mountain Vineyard on the Washington side of the region, and will be planting more Cabernet Franc at their newly acquired site along Mill Creek, east of the town of Walla Walla. This 2019 Cabernet Franc from the Blue Mountain Vineyard is the winery's inaugural bottling of a standalone Cabernet Franc.
The Walla Walla Valley AVA was established in 1984, and it is the second oldest AVA in Washington State after the Yakima Valley. It is unique in that the AVA boundaries are located across two states, about 2/3 of the area is in Washington State and 1/3 in Oregon, but the area under vine is almost even between the two states, with about 57% of vineyards in Washington and 43% in Oregon. While across Washington state as a whole, red wines account for around 60% of production, the Walla Walla Valley is best known for red wines, with 95% of the vineyards planted to red varieties, primarily Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah, accounting for 36% and 18% of plantings respectively. Cabernet Franc is the 4th most planted red variety here, at about 7% of vines, and because of the diversity of microclimates across the sub-zones within the Walla Walla Valley, Cabernet Franc is showing some promise as a single varietal wine in select pockets in the region.
The Walla Walla Valley is located in the southeast corner of Washington and the northeast corner of Oregon at around 46 degrees north latitude, slightly north of Bordeaux and south of Burgundy in terms of latitude. The climate would be considered continental, with hot summers and cold winters. As is the case with the majority of the wine regions in Washington state, the Walla Walla Valley lies to the east of the Cascade Mountains, which provides a rain shadow effect contributing to the very low rainfall and high amount of sunshine the region receives. In general, the Walla Walla Valley is one of the warmest and the windiest of regions in Washington state, but of course, there is a lot of nuance here.
The region is bound to the east by the Blue Mountains, part of the Rocky Mountain range, by the Vansyckle Ridge to the southwest, and to the north by the Palouse Hills. The majority of the vineyards are dotted along a 35km (20 mile) stretch of land that begins southwest of the town of Milton-Freewater in Oregon continuing northeast south of the town of Walla Walla and up to the northeastern corner of the AVA. And the vineyard elevation can vary quite widely from 120m to over 600m above sea level. Because of the mountains, the range of elevation across the region, and the northerly latitude, site selection for Cabernet Franc becomes quite critical, which prefers a slightly cooler environment in order to retain its varietal character, elegance and finesse.
The Walla Walla Valley is a fair size with a lot of nuance from site to site, so I am going to do my best to give an overview of the terroirs and the growing environment across the region, because the reality is that the Walla Walla has several sub-zones each with their own microclimates and soils.
On the valley floor, this is at elevations 240 to 285m, the temperatures are generally warmer during the day and much colder at night because of the cold air that descends down from the Blue Mountains in the evening, so the vineyards here will experience a wider diurnal range in temperatures. It is not unusual during the summer for temperatures to reach 38C during the day and dip to 15 or 10C at night, but these cold nights will help to slow down ripening and preserve acidities.
In terms of soils, on the valley floor we will generally find two types of soils. The majority of vineyards are on thick loess that has a silty texture which overlays the Missoula slackwater sediments, so very very deep, silty-sandy textured soils. Then there are two alluvial fans that are flanked around the Walla Walla River and Mill Creek, and these are very stony soils comprised primarily of basalt cobblestone gravels, and are found most notably around the Rocks District, which is a separate AVA within the Walla Walla Valley.
These valley floor sites tend to be planted with mainly Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah, with pockets of Rhône varieties and some other experimental blocks.
Then there are the areas that are at slightly higher elevations. To the east, east of the town of Walla Walla itself, we are in the foothills of the Blue Mountains, and to the southwest in the foothills of the Vansyckle Ridge, and in the north in the foothills of the Palouse Hills. These vineyards are typically at elevations of 310m to 480m. We will find a number of exposures in the foothills, which will certainly impact ripening, but in general these sites are cooler during the day but also warmer at night because of how the cold air descends down to lower elevations at night. These sites are quite windy as well, and velocity of the winds help these sites stay warmer later in the season. Finally, there is less frost risk in the foothills, so with all of these elements combined, these sites tend to experience a slightly cooler and longer growing season than the valley floor. There is also slightly more precipitation in the foothills as well.
In terms of soils, on the gentler slopes, we will find a thick layer of loess over a basalt bedrock, and then on the steeper slopes and canyons, there is only a thin layer of loess over the basalt bedrock with the soils being shallow enough for the basalt to impact the rooting zone of the vine. In both cases, the topsoil has a silt-loam texture with varying amounts of stoniness depending on the site. Cabernet Franc, which prefers slightly cooler conditions as well as deeper, well-drained soils, is showing some good potential in these areas, particularly on the gentler slopes in the foothills.
This 2019 vintage coming from the Blue Mountain vineyard, which is emerging as an important site for Cabernet Franc. There is about 23 acres, so about 9.5 hectares, of Cabernet Franc planted here, which represents just under 1/5 of the vineyard. The vineyard is located east of the town of Walla Walla, in the foothills of the Blue Mountains. We're at an average elevation of around 360m above sea level. It is one of the coolest and latest ripening sites in the Walla Walla Valley. Doug is working with 2 acres here that were planted in 2011, and the block is oriented to the north, and the soil is a deep silt-loam over basalt. There is drip irrigation installed, which is extremely common in the region given the low rainfall. The vineyard is farmed sustainably, with organic practices, and the yields are kept low at less than 2 tons per acre.
From a winemaking perspective, Doug adapts his approach in the cellar to the vintage conditions, whether it be a cooler or warmer year. In 2019, the grapes are all hand-harvested, destemmed and crushed. Fermentation is in stainless steel with ambient yeasts. 2019 was a cooler year, so the approach to extractions was a little less. The time on skins was about 10 days. Aging was for about 16 months in French oak, a mix of barriques and puncheons, approximately 20% new.
Key wine wine facts below:
Producer: Echolands Winery
Region: Washington State, USA
AVA: Walla Valley Valley
Vineyard: Blue Mountain Vineyard
Soils: Deep loess (silty-loam texture) over basalt
Alcohol: 13.6%
