Columbia Valley 2021 vintage report: Overview of Washington and Oregon plus top scoring wines

In 2021, winemakers, like the rest of us, were poised to rebound from the most challenging year in recent memory for, well, the entire human race. But the year was hardly a panacea, nor was it an easy bounce back from 2020.

The heat was extreme at times and unparalleled even for the hot desert climate that is home to nearly all of the Columbia Valley. Furthermore, there were still lingering issues from the COVID-19 pandemic regarding staffing and safety protocols, particularly in states like Washington and Oregon.

In addition, wildfires were once again a problem, although their impacts seem to be isolated to very specific parts of Washington State. I tasted a few wines (less than 10 in a sampling of over 300 wines) impacted by the Schneider Springs Fire, which was localised to some western parts of the Columbia Valley appellation.

However, while the best wines of 2021 undoubtedly show ripeness, there is elegance, balance, and a subdued freshness in those from the top producers.

Both Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah showed brilliance with refined tannins and minerality when diligence was exercised in picking decisions.

Columbia Valley 2021 red wines of the vintage

Gård, Grand Klasse Syrah, Royal Slope 98 points

WT Vintners, Boushey Vineyard Syrah, Yakima Valley 98 points

Columbia Valley 2021 white wine of the vintage

Delmas, Viognier, Rocks District of Milton-Freewater 96 points

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for the top Columbia Valley 2021 wines

Columbia Valley vintage ratings

2021 3/5

A vintage beset by record-shattering temperatures, 2021 in terms of wine quality, was a vintage for those pursuing balance. The heat dome in June, coupled with continued hot weather all the way through harvest, made acidity and freshness harder to come by for many Columbia Valley producers. Winemakers in slightly cooler sights benefitted, as did those who relied on proactive vineyard management. Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon showed that they could take the heat for the most part, and many up-and-coming producers made wines that stood out by picking earlier and benefitting from sites with strong mineral character.

2020 3/5

In this slightly warmer-than-average year, the COVID-19 pandemic forced wineries to create strategies that allowed them to continue to make wine. The best show finesse and balance, with fine examples, in particular, coming from the Red Mountain and Horse Heaven Hills AVAs. In September, wildfires raged to the south in Oregon, creating difficulty with ripening and impacting some vineyards with smoke taint. However, there wasn’t the same widespread damage here as in parts of Oregon and California.

2019 5/5

It was a cooler year for the warm, largely desert-growing conditions, this and a cold, wet winter, delayed bud break and bloom delivering wines with great elegance, finesse, and balance. Challenging frost events in September and October contributed to smaller yields. The top wines show beautiful finesse and elegance balanced against Washington’s characteristic tannin structure and reliable ripeness.

The heat is on

Living in the Pacific Northwest, I experienced the late June heat dome first-hand. It was a horrifying experience, the likes of which I had never seen before. In Seattle, which typically sees summer temperatures in the high 70s and low 80s (21-26°C), it was 108°(42°C) for multiple days. Despite our coastal location, the air did not move. It was suffocating and it turns out, the deadliest weather-related event in Washington State’s history.

Trothe founder Jeff Andrews’ family has been growing wine grapes for generations in the Horse Heaven Hills, and with all that experience, the heat of 2021 still looms as a defining factor of the vintage. ‘2021 was the year that all the talk of warming trends and excessive heat projections became more than theory,’ says Andrews. ‘It was an undeniable reality. We recorded twenty days of 100°(37° C) or more at Andrews Family Vineyards between 2 June and 16 August. We’ve had warm-to-hot vintages in the past, but 2021 was something we had never experienced before.’

‘Since then, we’ve had one hot vintage after another. Even this year (2024), a “cool” vintage, has been very warm by historical standards,’ Andrews continues.

‘We’re doing everything we can to adapt to the annual onslaught of excessive summer heat, taking steps in the vineyard to produce the best fruit each vintage and preserve plant health for future vintages. We pay close attention to crop load, canopy size, water, and nutrition needs,’ said Andrews.

Columbia Valley 2021: top 10 wines of the vintage

(alphabetically and by score)

Gård, Grand Klasse Syrah, Royal Slope 98 points

WT Vintners, Boushey Vineyard Syrah, Yakima Valley 98 points

DeLille Cellars, Chaleur Estate, Red Mountain 97 points

Force Majeure, Estate Syrah, Red Mountain, 97 points

From the Sky Down, Solaksen Cabernet Sauvignon, Royal Slope 97 points

Gård, Grand Klasse Cabernet Sauvignon, Royal Slope 97 points

Gård, Winemaker Select Cabernet Sauvignon, Royal Slope 97 points

Quilceda Creek, Cabernet Sauvignon, Columbia Valley 97 points

Trothe, Cabernet Sauvignon, Horse Heaven Hills 97 points

WT Vintners, Les Collines Syrah, Walla Walla Valley 97 points

A season of extremes

The challenges of 2021 were not only about heat. For many growers, it was the lowest-yielding vintage they’d seen in their careers, and several factors may have been at play.

The winter of 2020 included a late-winter freeze, and precipitation throughout that winter and into spring was lower than seasonal averages, leaving soils dry. Bud break came early, on the last day of March, and then it got cold for a stretch of about ten days, with temperatures below freezing. Hot temperatures followed, and bloom arrived in mid-May. It was windy and hot during bloom, creating challenges for fruit set and, ultimately, yield.

‘2021 was an interesting vintage,’ says Brooke Delmas Robertson, director of viticulture and winemaking for Delmas in The Rocks District AVA.

‘We saw extremes on both ends of the season. Hail and cool temps well into April, while the summer saw temps as high as 115° before the end of June. Residual freeze effects in the phloem (vascular tissue) of the vines and heat spikes too early in the season contributed to very low yields across all varieties, not just in The Rocks District but the Walla Walla Valley as a whole. Beautiful wines were made, but there are not a lot of them.’

The heat dome, which Delmas Robertson references, was the defining feature of 2021. It was an anomaly even in the hot region of eastern Washington and Oregon, where growers saw temperatures across the Columbia Valley go into the 120° (49°C ) range for several days.

See all 300+ Columbia Valley 2021 wines tasted from Washington State and Oregon

Pursuing balance

Most of the Columbia Valley is a desert, which means low disease pressure, ample ripeness and cool nights that allow for sufficient acid retention. For many winemakers, this ‘Goldilocks’ set of conditions, coupled with the ability to irrigate as needed, has made for relatively easy and reliable vintages over the last decade. As hot vintages become the norm, Washington winemakers’ ‘set it and forget it’ attitude from 10 to 20 years ago will be forced to change.

Those with estate vineyards, or a dedicated winegrower who is hands-on in the vine rows, will become essential as climate change pushes temperatures and shrinks picking windows, and certainly made a difference in 2021.

‘Being a viticulturist is a huge advantage when it comes to making wine,’ says Gård winemaker Matias Kusulas. ‘Being the head viticulturalist at an all-estate winery, means I have complete control in every block of every vineyard when it comes to decision making. Dialling in irrigation, fruit mass, and canopy management for a hot season is critical to good chemistry, the right aromatic and flavour compounds, and phenolic development – all of which are very important to a balanced wine. You can only do so much at the winery without negatively affecting the wine’s organoleptic profile. The best approach, to me, is paying close attention and focusing your efforts in the vineyard.’

‘The most important decision I made in 2021 was determining when to pick,’ says Trothe’s winemaker, Ray McKee. ‘It’s an important decision each year: picking determines how you capture the character of the fruit–perhaps underripe and green, or perfectly ripe, fresh, and vibrant, or possibly overripe and lacking nuance. The intensity of 2021 made the picking decision even more pivotal.’

‘As a wine-growing region, Washington has been getting steadily warmer since 2013, and I’ve learned a little more each year – my most important takeaway is that the picking window for great wines is actually relatively small. In 2021, it was still 90°(32°C) or above in October, when it’s typically in the 70s (21°C), and I picked Cabernet earlier than ever before to capture the variety’s vibrancy and avoid a one-note, baked-out wine.’

Columbia Valley 2021: 30 of the top wines tasted

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