Did you know Yakima Valley winegrowers are at the forefront\nof the organic and sustainable winemaking movement? With spring on the horizon,\nhow about planning a trip to meet the makers and learn more about these premium\nwines. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Did you know Yakima Valley winegrowers\nare at the forefront of the organic and sustainable winemaking movement? The\nNaches Heights American Viticulture Area was established in 2012 as the first\nAVA in Washington State to be fully sustainable. Located at an unusually high\nelevation with volcanic soils, the vineyards in this AVA utilize biodynamic,\norganic or LIVE (low-input viticulture and enology), certified salmon safe\nproduction. Naches Heights wineries aren\u2019t alone in their commitment to\nsustainable winemaking. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wine grapes grown by Wilridge Winery,\nDistillery & Vineyard, Naches Heights Vineyard, Paradisos del Sol Winery\n& Organic Vineyard and Hedges Family Estate have been certified organic by\nWashington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) and\/ or use biodynamic\npractices. Biodynamic certification\npre-dates the organic movement by twenty years and goes beyond organic\ncertification to include enhancing the soils with natural methods such as composting.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While wines may be\nmade from grapes grown on certified biodynamic farms, it doesn\u2019t necessarily mean\nthe wine is certified organic. A certified organic wine must be produced\nin accordance with the\nStellar Certification Services Standards* or the Demeter Biodynamic Processing Standard.<\/em> Wines\nnot certified may be considered \u201cnatural wine,\u201d made from organic grapes,\nminimally processed using little to no additives. There are no federal\nregulations classifying a natural wine. Certified\norganic wines are noted below; others are produced from organic grapes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Wilridge founded the first certified organic and biodynamic Vineyard, Winery and Distillery in Washington State. They grow certified organic pears and apples for their distilled brandies and organic grapes for their wines. The tasting room is located in a 100-year-old farmhouse in the middle of the Naches Heights AVA. Perched atop the stunning Cowiche Canyon, visitors take advantage of hiking opportunities through the vineyards to the nearby canyon and enjoy great views, picnics and frequent concerts on the expansive lawn. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Naches Heights Vineyard\u2019s grapes are grown with a love for the land, using organic or biodynamic practices. Naches Heights Vineyard was one of the first vineyards in Washington State to attain both LIVE and Salmon Safe certifications with 80% of their labels having both certifications. They believe sustainable practices preserve the vineyards for the next generation, leaving the world a better place. Their 2018 Albarino won Best of Class at the 2019 Savor NW Wine Awards. Schedule your wine tasting<\/a> today or order online.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Hedges Family Estate is located in the Red Mountain AVA. In keeping with the extensive standards of Demeter Certification, Hedges adds no commercial yeast to the wine during the fermentation process, resulting in a true expression of the earth that produced it. Soil deposits left behind by receding glacial floods produce small, concentrated grapes with layered, complex personalities that produce Hedges scene-stealing wines. The tasting room is open all year. Visit from April to November, Wednesday through Sunday, 11am to 5 pm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Paradisos del Sol Winery & Organic Vineyard is located in the Yakima Valley AVA along the Rattlesnake Hills Wine Trail in Zillah,WA. They are a small family owned \u201cfarmer\u201d and an organic, pesticide-free vineyard. A farmery is the term they use to describe their \u201cwinery located on a farm,\u201d complete with sheep, pigs, turkeys, chickens, cats, and dogs (and sometimes fish). Vineyards benefit from intensive labor for canopy management and zero spraying of vines resulting in beautiful, healthy grapes. As wholistic growers, they strive to expose every fruit and leaf to direct sunlight as the best defense for fungus and insect pests. Paradisos de Sol offers vineyard tours to hear more about their grape growing and wine making practices every Sunday at 9 am or by appointment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n * In July 2018, CCOF, Stellar and Demeter<\/a> announced a partnership to allow organic operations certified by Stellar Certification Services to easily transition their certification to CCOF Certification Services, LLC. On July 31, 2018, Stellar Certification Services ceased to certify organic operations. Stellar is the organic certification sister organization of Demeter USA, the U.S.\u2019 biodynamic certification organization.<\/small><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Did you know Yakima Valley winegrowers are at the forefront of the organic and sustainable winemaking movement? With spring on the horizon, how about planning a trip to meet the makers and learn more about these premium wines. Did you know Yakima Valley winegrowers are at the forefront of the organic and sustainable winemaking movement?… View Article<\/a>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":152,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-151","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-wine-country"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visityakima.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visityakima.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visityakima.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visityakima.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visityakima.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.visityakima.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":643,"href":"https:\/\/www.visityakima.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151\/revisions\/643"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visityakima.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visityakima.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visityakima.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visityakima.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Wilridge Winery, Distillery & Vineyard<\/a> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Naches Heights Vineyard<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Hedges Family Estate<\/a> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Paradisos del Sol Winery & Organic Vineyard<\/a> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n