American Viticultural Area · OR
Yamhill-Carlton
Yamhill-Carlton is a federally-designated American Viticultural Area in OR, established in 2005. The map below shows its official TTB boundary alongside nearby AVAs.
The Yamhill-Carlton boundary is highlighted. Nearby AVAs are rendered in gray — click any of them to view that AVA's page.
At a glance
Established
2005
State
OR
Climate
Cool maritime
Signature varietals
Boundary recorded in 27 CFR Part 9 · Source: TTB
About the Yamhill-Carlton AVA
Yamhill-Carlton, designated 2005, is a sub-AVA of Oregon's Willamette Valley, named for the towns of Yamhill and Carlton and shaped like a horseshoe of hills that wrap around the valley floor between them. The surrounding ridges shelter the area from the worst of the coastal weather, and its defining soils are coarse, marine sedimentary sandstones — older and faster-draining than the volcanic soils of neighboring districts. Yamhill-Carlton lies within the larger Willamette Valley AVA.
Pinot Noir is overwhelmingly the signature grape. The well-drained sedimentary soils and sheltered, slightly warmer sites tend to push toward earlier ripening and sturdier, darker-fruited, more structured Pinot Noir than some of the Willamette's volcanic-soil AVAs. Pinot Gris and Chardonnay are also grown. The district is one of the larger and more historically important Willamette sub-AVAs.
Nearby AVAs
Other American Viticultural Areas closest to Yamhill-Carlton — useful when a vineyard sits inside more than one AVA at once.