Washington Wine Industry Continues Growth

Washington Wine Industry Continues Growth. I'm Greg Martin with today's Fruit Grower Report. One thing is for sure, there is no shortage a good wine at the grocery store. It has become sort of like looking for a movie at the rental store...just so many choices and that begs a question. When is it too much? When do we reach a critical mass? Gary Werner, Communications Manager with the Washington Wine Commission. WERNER: I think we're hitting a critical mass and I mean this in a positive way in terms of there being enough brands, enough wines out there for it to resonate in the marketplace. In terms of there being too many? No. I think we might be a long way off there. As I said we just passed 670 wineries but if you want to compare of to California they've got over 3000 wineries. Wine consumption has continued to grow over the last several decades WERNER: It'll be anytime soon. It could be next year, could be the year after that the United States becomes the number one wine consuming market in the world. That means a bigger pie, a bigger proverbial pie for everyone and certainly based on what we're seeing now a larger slice for Washington and the growers and makers responsible for building the industry into what it is now. Of course there are wine prices and qualities across the board but recent reports are showing that people seem to be buying higher priced wines. WERNER: That is starting to happen. I've spoken to a few winemakers out doing market visits in the country and they have for the first time in a while seen less resistance for their higher priced wines. Of course Werner says we have also seen both wineries and restaurants make moves towards a new tier of lower priced but still good quality wines. That's today's Fruit Grower Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Info Network.