Online Edition | Washington State University | Pullman, Washington | Friday, March 2, 2001

Meinert, Busacca explore relationship of
geology to wine in southeastern Washington

By Nella Letizia

WSU geologist Larry Meinert has traveled the world the last 20 years teaching people how to find gold mines. But the largest of them all may very well be in his backyard and pours into a glass.

Wine and its production in Washington are creating their own version of the Gold Rush. Washington state is second only to California in producing U.S. wine yet has only been in the commercial business for about 100 years. When Meinert moved to Washington in 1981, there were only 19 wineries. Today, there are more than 155, with others opening every day. And if people thought gold mines were risky, they haven’t tried winemaking. Meinert has only to ask a rhetorical question that’s a joke among vintners.

“Do you know how to make a small fortune in the wine business? Start with a large one,” he says. “It’s a very romantic business, but not necessarily a very profitable one. Some of the 155 (Washington) wineries are barely breaking even, but they’re enjoying it.”

The appeal of winemaking is much like the appeal of gourmet cooking—for the possibility of creating a truly exceptional product. Superlative wines come out of Washington wineries, but what makes them so special? Meinert and WSU soil scientist Alan Busacca recently delved into an analysis of the question, from their areas of expertise.

The two scientists detailed the relationship of geology to wine in southeastern Washington in a December 2000 article published in Geoscience Canada, the major international journal of the Geological Association of Canada. Meinert says the article has been well received by winemakers and the scientific community alike for its take on why the region, and the Walla Walla Valley in particular, is gaining acclaim for its wine production.

The latest indication of Walla Walla’s drawing potential came in early February when the state’s largest winemaker, Stimson Lane, announced it was locating its Northstar Merlot Winery there. According to Ted Baseler, Stimson Lane president, “Walla Walla has distinguished itself as a Mecca for boutique wines in general and Merlot in particular,” as reported in the Tri-City Herald.

Meinert says one can’t point to only a single factor for why the Walla Walla Valley is producing such outstanding Merlots—as well as Cabernet Sauvignons and Syrahs. Climate, soil, geology and other physical factors all play into wine quality—a term called terroir. That of southeastern Washington has several distinguishing features.

First, most Washington vineyards are located in the “rain shadow” of the Cascade Mountains, creating arid conditions in which grapes grow well, Meinert says. Second, Washington vineyards also tend to be farther north of the more widely known California vineyards, providing about two more hours of summer sunlight to ripen grapes faster.

“Warm days and cool nights preserve the acidity of grapes,” he says, “and what you’re really looking for in grapes is the proper balance between sugar and acid.”

Busacca’s knowledge of the area’s ice-age geologic history reveals another important characteristic: Most Washington vineyards lie on soils and sediments created by giant glacial outburst floods that also created the famous Channeled Scabland in eastern Washington. Silty sediments from the floods were partially eroded by wind since 15,000 years ago, and the eroded dust has formed the well-drained loess soils that form the backbone of several eastern Washington agricultural commodities, including grapes. Also, some of the best vineyards in the Walla Walla Valley are planted on loess-covered slack-water terraces created by the glacial floods, which provide excellent air drainage that helps minimize mildew formation in summer and frost damage in winter. Combined with arid climate, longer summer hours and cooler nights, the terraces are the premier location for grape production.

“That really allows the vineyard manager to control (growth),” Meinert says. “The Walla Walla area naturally allows you to produce very good grapes. If you do all the right things, the quality is very, very high.”

Yet some areas of the Walla Walla Valley are not suitable for wine production. For example, the floodplains in the western part of the valley are known for shallower, poorly drained soils that become saturated with salts and turn alkaline. Also, within the region, a particular vineyard may grow one kind of grape better than another because of microclimate and soil variability.

Meinert and Busacca say further research is needed to examine the relationship between specific physical factors such as bedrock geology, hydrology and pedology and the quality of wine produced from individual vineyards. The pair would also like to conduct a similar study of the Yakima Valley area.

The most enjoyable part of the Walla Walla research was applying professional skills and personal interest to a new agricultural commodity, Busacca says.

“The wine industry in the state is expanding. That’s a happy contrast to other commodities, like apples, wheat and potatoes,” he says. “This is an industry that’s really gaining prominence.

“The vintners are great to work with and forthcoming with information. They were very excited to see our analysis,” Busacca adds. “It was a nice reciprocation with a whole new group of people.”

Meinert’s best recollections are a bit more tongue in cheek. Inexplicably ignored by Geoscience Canada’s copyeditor was the caption for Figure 14 of the article:

“In order to fully understand the nuances of terroir, the authors, Larry Meinert and Alan Busacca, tasted barrel samples of wine from many of the vineyards described in this paper. Some samples required repeated evaluation.”