Washington state wine grape growers have record harvest
Washington state’s wine grape crop, second only to California nationwide, was a record 127,150 tons this year, an industry group reported.
“The grapes got as ripe as we wanted and the color was really good for the reds. The wines are going to be really good,” said Scott Williams, winemaker at Kiona Vineyards & Winery on Red Mountain near Benton City.
Final reports on new plantings from the state Department of Agriculture won’t be available until next year, but the area devoted to premium wine grapes has grown about 11,000 acres in 1993 to 31,000 last year.
According to the Washington Wine Commission, the state’s wine industry provides about 14,000 full-time jobs and contributes more than $3 billion annually to the state’s economy. In 2006, more than seven million cases of wine were made in Washington, worth about $685 million in retail sales.
California growers expect to harvest 3.2 million tons of wine grapes this year.