Growers expect bumper crop of grapes to fuel Washington state's burgeoning wine industryRecord temps, record harvest

Perfect weather and new acreage are promising a record crop of wine grapes in Washington, with the total expected to hit 155,000 tons of grapes, up 7 percent from last year.

Growers planted 36,000 acres of grapes for the 2009 harvest, also up 7 percent from 2008, said Vicky Sharlau, executive director for the Washington Association of Wine Grape Growers.

“It looks like it’s been a banner year for growing wine grapes in Washington state,” she said. “From what we hear from growers and viticulturists, they’re expecting a really good year.”

Good growing conditions with consistent temperatures this year are promising to yield very high-quality grapes in addition to the record crop, Sharlau said. The extreme heat earlier this summer came after the grapes were established, so they weren’t damaged, she said.

These projections from the Washington Agricultural Statistics Service reflect the crop’s growing importance in Washington state, as more land is shifted to wine grape production. While the wine grape crop generated $144 million in 2008, winery revenues were three times that at $436 million, and tourists spent another $238 million, according to the Washington Wine Commission.

Despite the recession, sales of Washington table wines nationwide have been taking market share, rising 9.1 percent at the retail level, according to Nielsen Survey results for the 52 weeks ended July 25. Sales of California table wines grew only 5.7 percent during this period.

Washington’s wine grape crop is still dwarfed by California’s 3.3 million tons, but observers say that lower land costs here are attracting new growers. About 350 growers in Washington supply grapes for about 650 wineries, and the number of both has been growing.

“There has been pretty consistent growth over the last four years... We’re getting very adept at identifying a location where grapes will thrive,” Sharlau said, adding that about two-thirds of the grapes are specifically grown for red wines.

With the harvest so large, some growers may be pruning back vines to yield even better grapes, Sharlau said. She said the eventual “crush,” grapes that are actually squeezed for juice, may be about 147,000 tons, similar to last year, as wineries seek to move the highest-quality grapes through their limited production facilities.