Oregon Winery Growth Pt 1

Oregon Winery Growth Pt 1

Bob Larson
Bob Larson
From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson with today’s Fruit Grower Report. 2020 was a tough year for West coast wine grape growers, with wildfires and the smoke they produce spoiling many vineyards. But Oregon wineries are showing great resiliency!

Oregon Wine Board’s Sarah Murdoch says, like their neighbors to the north, the list of wineries in Oregon continues to grow …

MURDOCH … “I was teasing those numbers out and, I think, it was only a year ago that Washington crested the thousand winery mark. So, we, a year ago, we were at 998. Now, we’re at 1,058 wineries which is 60 wineries a year which would be five a month opening in the state or one or more wineries opening per week on the entire year of 2021.”

Which, Murdoch says is great to see …

MURDOCH … “So, there’s still room, there’s still space, there’s still demand and we’re still growing.”

The growth, Murdoch says has been slow, but steady …

MURDOCH … “So, the Willamette Valley, as far as growing, the North Willamette Valley grew by 7% more wineries this past year. So, the total in North plus South Willamette Valley is 781 wineries. And that’s 74% of the state’s winery population, 781 of 1,058.”

So, in spite of the challenges, Murdoch says, Oregon’s wine industry is still strong.

Tune in tomorrow for more.

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