Washington State’s second largest American Viticultural Area (AVA) is the only viticultural area located west of the Cascade Mountains. Stretching from the Canadian border to just south of Olympia at the sound end of Puget Sound, this beautifully forested and highly populated region extends into the Olympic Peninsula. It commands an extensive average rainfall, between fifteen and sixty inches, with relatively mild summers that most successfully support fruit and white varietals with high sugar content. The Puget Sound AVA shares many aspects of its Northern European counterparts, growing varietals such as Madeline Angevine and Muller Thurgau, although the rain shadow on the Olympic Peninsula has successfully resulted in increasing amounts of Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris. Established as a viticultural area in 1995, the Puget Sound AVA is less known as a wine growing region than a wine tasting mecca, a reputation built on the 100+ tasting rooms nestled in the Woodinville Valley thirty minutes from Seattle. Outside of Woodinville, the AVA is home to mostly small, family-owned wineries located around the Cascade and Olympic Mountain ranges. Ferry-hopping tourists visiting the San Juans, the Olympic Peninsula, and other islands dotting the local waterways can expect personalized attention in cozy tasting rooms where the winemaker is often present and bottle prices are in the $10 to $30 range. In recent years, many “west side” winemakers coveting high quality reds have been purchasing lots from Eastern Washington growers in an effort to offer the more popular Bordeaux blends to consumers visiting the Puget Sound area. Wine tasting in the Woodinville Wine Country is a completely different experience. A rural suburb with a farming background, the first Woodinville wineries to open tasting rooms were Chateau St. Michelle and Columbia wineries back in the early 1980s. Growth of Woodinville tasting rooms in retail clusters has been exponential in the past ten years, servicing an ever-growing population of tourists in a relatively small area. Nearly all Woodinville wineries produce varietals made from warmer-climate Eastern Washington grapes, with bottle prices ranging from $10 to $100. Scroll down for a comprehensive list of Puget Sound AVA wineries and click “map view” to access the advanced winery search. Whether you would like to visit a winery that provides beautiful vineyard lodging, has food available to complement its wines, hosts vineyard weddings, or produces wines from organic grapes, we make it easy to find the best Puget Sound wine tasting and touring destinations.