The Rocks District of Milton-Freewater AVA
| Wine region | |
Rough location of The Rocks District (red) within Walla Walla AVA (black) | |
| Type | American Viticultural Area |
|---|---|
| Year established | 2015 |
| Country | United States |
| Part of | Oregon, Columbia Valley AVA, Walla Walla Valley AVA |
| Climate region | Arid |
| Soil conditions | cobbly and gravelly silt loam |
| Total area | 3,770 acres (6 sq mi) |
| Size of planted vineyards | 472 acres (191 ha) |
| No. of vineyards | 35 |
| Grapes produced | Cabernet Franc, Grenache, Tempranillo, Syrah, Viognier Malbec |
| No. of wineries | 5 |
The Rocks District of Milton-Freewater (known locally as "The Rocks District") is an American Viticultural Area (AVA) in Umatilla County, Oregon that is a sub-appellation of the Walla Walla Valley AVA, and both lie within the vast Columbia Valley AVA. The appellation was established on March 11, 2015 by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), Treasury after reviewing the petition submitted from Dr. Kevin R. Pogue, a professor of geology at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, proposing the viticultural area called "The Rocks District of Milton-Freewater."
The appellation lies entirely within the Oregon portion of the Walla Walla Valley AVA that partially expands across Walla Walla County. It is named for the city of Milton-Freewater, Oregon and a unique alluvial fan resulting in rocky soils with "baseball sized" basalt cobbles covering the earth, and is notable as being "the only AVA in the United States whose boundaries are defined by the soil type." Unique wine flavors are said to result from the mineral composition, hydrology, and temperatures of the volcanic rocks.