Washington's Growing Wine Industry Pt 1

Washington's Growing Wine Industry Pt 1

Bob Larson
Bob Larson
With today’s Fruit Grower Report, I’m Bob Larson.

Washington’s wine industry is a tight-knit group. With over 1,000 licensed wineries, the industry continues to create some of the world’s highest quality wines.

Washington Wine Commission president, Steve Warner says it’s not easy, but our winemakers are making it work and work well …

WARNER … “We are all watching, you know, our bottom line and the great news about Washington state in particular is, like I mentioned, that we had 10-years straight having one of the highest percentages of 90-point rated wines, but those same 90-plus rated wines from Washington were half the price of the wines, the 90-plus rated wines from California and a third the price of 90-point rated wines from France.”

Besides being a great bargain, Warner says word of our quality is spreading too …

WARNER … “I think that’s hugely helpful and we, obviously, the industry loves that sort of thing because, you know, research and data have shown time and time again that word-of-mouth is super strong. If your friends make a recommendation, normally that’s the best recommendations, but we’re trying to cover it from all angles. We’re working with wine media, wine trade, consumers, everything, social media, across the board because the wines are really, really good and we want the world to know.”

And don’t forget, Warner says it’s home grown from vine to wine …

WARNER … “And, I think often times people miss out on that the grapes used to make this wine are grown by amazing, hardworking farmers in Eastern Washington, right? So, the majority, 99% of our fruit is grown in Eastern Washington.”

Listen tomorrow for more … on Washington’s ever-expanding wine industry.

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