The fast traveling flood waters, estimated at 1,280 feet (390 m) tall, would sweep around the east and west edges of Red Mountain, creating powerfully back-eddies.

[6] In the 10,000 years since the Missoula floods, wind-blown loess was deposited, creating a thin mantle of dunes that vary in thickness throughout the Red Mountain region.

[1] The area has one of the most unusual terroirs in the state with the southwest facing slopes documenting warmer temperatures and more sunlight hours than any other part of the Columbia Valley.

Cool air from the northern elevations flowing to the lower river valley moves across the hillside vineyards and keeps the grapes from being overheated.

In the late 1990s, Lorne Jacobson from Hedges Family Estates started a drive to achieve federal recognition of the area as its own AVA, which was granted in April, 2001.

[8] In 2007, Chateau Ste Michelle and Marchesi Antinori invested 6.5 million dollars in the appellation to purchase vineyards and establish a winery to produce their joint venture wine, Col Solare.

Like most wine growing regions in Eastern Washington, Red Mountain is in the rain shadow of the Cascade Range making irrigation essential with water rights controlled by the state's Department of Ecology.

In anticipation of future growth, a committee of local grape growers was formed to promote the development of the area's roads and infrastructure.