Every state in America now lays claim to indigenous winemaking attempts -- from Alaskans experimenting with Salmonberry wine to alcoholic beverage conglomerates setting their sights on fallow potato patches in Idaho in a quest for inexpensive, "undiscovered" potential vineyards. The results of these efforts, however, often bring to mind our reply upon receiving yet another toaster oven from Aunt Mildred, "Oh, you shouldn't have; no really, you shouldn't have."

Fortunately, there are some exceptions, the most notable of which is the wine from Washington State. So how could a state that is as well known for its bug-infested software as its drenching rains suddenly become a rising star in the wine world?

The answer lies in Washington's unique, almost bipolar climate. The west coast of Washington is indeed constantly soaked, with Seattle receiving an average of 120 cm of rain per year. The nearby Olympic Peninsula gets even more, qualifying it as the wettest spot in the continental U.S. But just a few kilometers inland lies The Cascades, a range of enormous mountains that effectively stops all the Pacific storms in their tracks. In what is always a shock to first-time visitors from Seattle, the back, eastern side of the mountains is effectively an arid desert, where just 20 cm of rain would qualify as a "very wet" year.

Wine grapes were grown in Eastern Washington as far back as 1825, but it wasn't until commercial irrigation was developed in the 1970s that this region began to emerge as a viable area for large-scale vineyards (Washington, after California, is now the second largest wine-producing state in America).

Given Washington State's cool nights and protracted growing season, pioneering locals Chateau Ste. Michelle and Columbia Crest originally focused on Riesling. And even today, these two states remain some of the largest Riesling producers in the world.

But it is Washington's reds, and in particular Syrah, that have grabbed the wine world's attention most recently. In the last 12 months, the magazines Wine Spectator, Wine Advocate, and Wine & Spirits have all run glowing articles about the region's potential for great red wines. Fans tend to boast that Washington's greatness comes from being situated on latitudes roughly parallel to Bordeaux and Burgundy.

By the same token, shouldn't we be seeing equally brilliant results from Romania and Mongolia, two countries that also fall between the 46th and 48th parallels? In fact, the secret to Washington's success may lie in the almost desertlike environment of its vineyards. The vines survive during the year only by the use of drip irrigation lines. By withholding water during the harvest season, the vines can be kept under just enough "water stress" that they begin to struggle to survive, and so focus all their energy on ripening the grapes (the lack of humidity also results in very low disease pressure, which results in minimal pesticide usage as well).

The combination of long, northern daylight hours during the growing season, cool nights, and an almost Calvinist "triumph through adversity" approach to grape-growing has produced tremendous results. Our favorite Washington white has long been the Eroica Riesling, the result of a joint venture between Chateau Ste. Michelle and Dr. Loosen, one of the kings of German winemaking (this wine has also been included in Wine Spectator's "Top 100" for five consecutive years).

Names to watch out for on the red side include Leonetti, L'Ecole 41, Cayuse, Owen-Sullivan and K Vintners, particularly for their Syrah. The most comprehensive source for Washington wines in Japan is Orca International, run by Seattle native Jeff Renshaw. For those who would like to taste before they buy, the Washington Wine Commission is hosting an enormous "Taste Washington" event at the Tokyo American Club on Thursday evening, March 24. More than 30 wineries will be represented, and Jeff Renshaw and 10 winemakers will be there to answer questions directly. A fabulous chance to learn more, and a great deal at just 3,500 yen. See www.orca-international.com for more details.

'Sideways' follow up

When we first wrote about the wine-soaked film "Sideways" last year, it was a low-budget independent venture that one winemaker thought "maybe 300 people at best" would see. It has since, of course, gone on to become a major hit and Academy Award winner, and it opened in Japan last week. We recently had the pleasure of sharing a bottle of Highliner Pinot Noir with Gray Hartley, co-owner of the Hitching Post restaurant and winery that are featured prominently in the film.

Before venturing into the wine business, Hartley worked for many years as a commercial fisherman in Alaska, and he explained that "highliner" was local dockyard slang for the most respected fishing boat captain in the fleet. When he and co-owner Frank Ostini decided to make a luxury cuvee using just the best few barrels from each of their top single-vineyard Pinot Noir sites (including Bien Nacido, Julia's, Cargasacchi and Clos Pepe, a virtual litany of Santa Barbara's best), they jokingly nicknamed it Highliner, and the name stuck. The '03 Highliner was, as "Sideways" star Miles would say, tighter than a nun's -- er -- posterior.

Demand for the wine has rocketed since the film, but a few bottles will be imported into Japan by WineInStyle, a new venture which ex-Mondavi Japan head Michael Khoo has just been brought in to rebuild from the ashes of Sansonoma.com. To grab one of the few bottles before they are gone, check out www.japan.wine.com