Oregon Wine Recovery Pt 2

Oregon Wine Recovery Pt 2

Bob Larson
Bob Larson
From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson with today’s Fruit Grower Report. Not allowing the many challenges of 2020 to keep them down, Oregon’s wine industry has come roaring back with a 72% increase in production value for 2021.

Oregon Wine Board’s Sarah Murdoch says the boost in dollar growth topped both neighboring wine-producing states Washington and California …

MURDOCH … “And that’s Neilson numbers so those are numbers that are actually coming through with cash registers. That data is just completely downloaded from consumer data. And so, no matter how you look at it, definitely the dollars are up there.”

This big turnaround has members of Oregon’s wine industry grinning ear to ear…

MURDOCH … “I think they’re pretty thrilled. I think they heaved a sigh of relief when we got through 2021 and then this summer didn’t have the same circumstances or weather events that happened in 2020.”

Murdoch says the report comes as harvest season gets underway …

MURDOCH … “They’re all firing up right now with harvesting sparking and chardonnay. And then pretty soon we’re looking at the red wines coming inside for harvest. So, I think there’s just a general buzz going around about the season.”

Murdoch says Oregon wine exports also rose by 8.9% over 2020, with the leading export market Canada accounting for 46% of export sales.

In 2021, harvested acreage of all varieties grew 17% over 2020, while yield per harvested acre grew 30%, nearly as much as 2019 before COVID restrictions and wildfire events.

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