Wine Industry Expanding

In my younger adult days my young wife and I viewed wine as a special treat we had with pasta. And for us most wine we purchased was from California. The wine industry has been growing leaps and bounds over the last 30 years. In Washington alone there are now 691 wineries across the state. But did you know that Idaho has a growing wine industry as well? Idaho Wine Commission's Shelley Bennett compares the growing Idaho wine industry with the Walla Walla wine industry.

BENNETT: We do feel that Idaho competes very nicely with Walla Walla. I am sure that people know there are a number of nice wineries within Walla Walla's city limits and right within the outer city limits and if you look at Boise we have about 30 wineries within 30 minutes of Boise so we are growing up there nicely with Walla Walla as far as the number of wineries that are within the city limits and just on the outside of the city limits.

I personally have not yet had the opportunity to try any Idaho wine.

BENNETT: Idaho wine is fabulous. If you have not tried it you definitely need to. We compete with the best of them and we have been winning lots of gold medals, silver medals and bronze medals in the large majority of the well known wine competitions throughout the country.

Oregon now has 540 wineries but Idaho is beginning to grow now with 50 wineries.

That's today's Fruit Grower Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.