Washington’s wine story starts long before WAugust existed. The state’s first wine grapes were planted all the way back in 1825 by the Hudson’s Bay Company at Fort Vancouver, but the modern industry didn’t take shape until the 20th century. Irrigation canals built in the early 1900s brought Cascade snowmelt to the arid eastern half of the state, and pioneering growers like W.B. Bridgman began planting vinifera grapes in the Yakima Valley soon after.

Prohibition slowed things down, but it didn’t stop them — home winemaking kept interest alive, and by the late 1930s dozens of small wineries had already popped up around Seattle. The real turning point came in the 1960s, when Dr. Walter Clore, now known as the “father of Washington wine,” completed years of research identifying which grape varieties would thrive in the state’s high-desert climate. That groundwork led to the founding of Associated Vintners (now Columbia Winery) in 1962 and Ste. Michelle Vintners — today’s Chateau Ste. Michelle — in 1967, the vintage widely credited with putting Washington wine on the map.

From there, growth accelerated fast. Washington’s first federally recognized American Viticultural Area, Yakima Valley, was established in 1983. Walla Walla Valley followed not long after, and the industry kept expanding through the 1990s and 2000s as new AVAs, wineries, and vineyard acreage multiplied across the state.