10/09/08 Spreading Washington Wines

Spreading Washington Wines! I'm Greg Martin with today's Fruit Grower Report. The grape harvest is coming to a close and we will soon be seeing some more great vintages come out of Washington State. A lot of people in cities all over the U.S. are beginning to discover our product and a lot of that is due to the efforts of the Washington Wine Commission. POLLARD: In mid-September the Washington Wine Commission hosted a trade tasting event in Denver where we had about 60 wineries from Washington present pouring their product to about 350 trade members of the Denver metropolitan area wine trade community representing restaurants, retailers, grocery stores. That's Robin Pollard, executive director of the commission who says they have successfully used this format in other markets. POLLARD: This will be the third market. Our test market for this approach was in Tampa, Florida of course several years ago and we're still seeing the benefits of having a presence in that market. Then last year we kicked off a campaign in Austin In the spring Pollard says they will be going to the Phoenix area as well. The Denver event brought in many other outside areas. POLLARD: We had folks from as far away as Telluride and Aspen and Vail which also just indicates how interested the broader Colorado market is in Washington wines. That's today's Fruit Grower Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.