1,000 Washington Wineries Pt 2

1,000 Washington Wineries Pt 2

Bob Larson
Bob Larson
With today’s Fruit Grower Report, I’m Bob Larson. Washington state’s wine industry has more than doubled the number of active, licensed wineries in the past seven years, surpassing 1,000 … second largest in the nation.

But, Washington Wine Commission president Steve Warner says according to Wine Spectator data, for 10-years we’ve also had one of the highest percentages of 90+ rated wines …

WARNER … “Those same 90+ rated wines were half the price of California’s 90+ rated wines and a third the price of Frances 90+ rated wines.”

And, Warner says we’re also seeing wine grape acreage grow at a similar pace …

WARNER … “We are, I mean, we’re closing in on about 50-thousand acres, but the great news is that we think that we can expand to as much as 200-thousand acres.”

So, Washington is legitimately a major “player” in the global wine industry …

WARNER … “We’re actually number four in dollar revenue for sales in the U.S.. And, the fact that we’re already there at this relatively early part in our development as a wine industry, and what I mean by that is if you compare Washington state, our first AVA was established in 1983, the Yakima Valley AVA and you compare that to, say, the Antinori family, whose into their 23rd, 24th generation, we’re relatively new to the wine game, but we’ve proven, quality-wise, that we can stand toe to toe with anybody in the world.”

Warner says we’re improving in every aspect of wine making …

WARNER … “We’re zeroing in on growing better grapes and making better wine and the reason we’re doing that is because we have these amazing farmers and these amazing winemakers and I think we’re only going to continue to not only increase in volume, but increase in quality.”

Listen tomorrow for more on Washington’s growing wine industry and its popularity in the wine world.

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