Puget Sound is an American Viticultural Area (AVA) in northwest portion of Washington state encompassing Clallam, Island, Jefferson, King, Kitsap, Mason, Pierce, San Juan, Skagit, Snohomish, Thurston and Whatcom Counties.

[7] The AVA was established by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), Treasury on October 4, 1995 after reviewing a petition submitted by Gerard and Jo Ann Bentryn of Bainbridge Island Vineyards & Winery in Bainbridge Island, Washington, proposing a new viticultural area within the State of Washington to be known as "Puget Sound.

This publication discusses grape growing in western Washington and states that, "the expansive Puget Sound basin offers a temperate climate that rarely suffers from prolonged freezing weather in the winter and quite often enjoys a long and warm summer growing season.”[1] One of the earliest recorded plantings in the Puget Sound area was in 1872 by a Civil War veteran named Lambert Evans on Stretch Island, near modern-day Allyn-Grapeview.

Evans planted apples and several varieties of “Vitis labrusca,” an eastern North American native grape species suitable in the wet Puget Sound climate.

[11] Bentryn authored the ATF petition to propose Puget Sound as the 4th AVA established in Washington State in 1995.

[1] Bentryn is also credited being instrumental in bringing many of the cool climate varietals in common use today; he worked with Dr. Norton at Washington State University and had them imported from Saanich Farm Experimental Station in Canada, Geisenheim Grape Breeding Institute in Germany.

Low rolling hills formed by the deposit and erosion of advancing and retreating glaciers are cut by ravines and stream channels.

The Strait of Juan de Fuca and associated waterways separate Puget Sound from the cooler summer areas to the north.

The western, eastern and southern boundaries of the Puget Sound viticultural area closely follow the line formed by a growing season of 180 days and the 60 in (1,524 mm) of annual precipitation.

Cool air from the Pacific Ocean moves east through the Strait of Juan de Fuca during the growing season limiting the reliable ripening of winegrapes in the areas west of the Elwha River and outside the line formed by the western boundaries of Clallam, San Juan, and Whatcom Counties and the northern boundary of Whatcom County.

[1] Total degree days as measured by the scale developed by Winkler and Amerine of the University of California, Davis range between 1300 at the northern border, to 2200 in the south.

Vernon 1530, Coupeville 1360, Monroe 1820, Bothell 1520, Kent 1940, Seattle (U of W) 2160, Bremerton 1810, Vashon 1730, Grapeview 2010, Puyallup 1770, Tacoma 1940, and Olympia 2160.

Vernon 32", Coupeville 18", Monroe 47", Bothell 40", Kent 38", Seattle (U of W) 35", Bremerton 39", Vashon 47", Grapeview 53", Puyallup 41", Tacoma 37", and Olympia 52".

This most recent glaciation (10,000 years ago) coincided at its limits with the eastern, southern, and southwestern boundaries of the viticultural area.

The subsoil acts as a storage vehicle for winter rains and allows deep rooted vines to survive the late-summer soil water deficit without irrigation.

In the 1890’s a viticulturalist from the East Coast named Adam Eckert brought new grape varieties and planted more vineyards on the island.

Viticulture spread throughout the Puget Sound basin as evidenced by the annual reports of the Washington State Department of Agriculture.

Many new varieties showed promise during tests at the Washington State University Mount Vernon Agricultural Research Station in 2005.