1,000 Washington Wineries Pt 1

1,000 Washington Wineries Pt 1

Bob Larson
Bob Larson
With today’s Fruit Grower Report, I’m Bob Larson. Washington state’s wine industry just reached quite the milestone, by reaching and passing 1,000 active winery licenses across the state.

Washington Wine Commission president Steve Warner says it’s all happened so quickly …

WARNER … “Well, I think it’s pretty incredible. I mean, we passed a thousand wineries in the state, which, when you look back at the active winery license data. In 2012, we had a little over 500, so we basically double in seven years.”

Warner says it’s been amazing ride with an amazing industry …

WARNER … “And, the fact that we doubled is not just about the number of wineries, but it’s also about the revenue that has generated in economic impact. So, in 2018 we estimate that we passed about $2.4-billion dollars in revenue and about $7-billion dollars in in-state economic impact. Where, of course, those are preliminary numbers because we’re doing an economic impact study right now, but we’re getting close to the end. It should be December when we know more.”

So, Washington has become a legitimate “player” in the global wine industry over a pretty short period of time? …

WARNER … “Absolutely, it’s not only a major player in size, I mean number two in the U.S., but also when you look globally at the Wine Spectator data, for example, which Wine Spectator they review upwards of 14,000 wines from around the world each year, Washington state had, for 10-years, one of the highest average percentage of 90+ rated wines. That’s compared to France, Italy, Spain, California and Oregon.”

Listen tomorrow for more on this Washington winery milestone and what it means for the industry here in our state.

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