Columbia Valley Winery Association
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Our member wineries and Washington state are garnering more respect and prestige in the world of wine everyday. These are just a few of the news articles and accolades relevant to our wineries and the Washington wine industry.
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Enthusiast's Corner praises Washington wine "Community"
Washington State Challenges Worlds Premier Wine Regions
Rattlesnake Hills Recognized as WAs Ninth AVA
WASHINGTON GRAPE ACREAGE
AND
WINERY SURVEY RESULTS FINAL
April 2007
Cashmere, WA. The Washington field office of the USDAs National Agriculture Statistics Service (USDA NASS) released results from the 2006 Washington vineyard acreage survey and the first winery survey. Both surveys, were funded by a grant partnership between the Washington Wine Industry Foundation (WWIF) and the USDA Risk Management Agency (USDA RMA), researching tools that growers and wineries need to make better management and production decisions.
The grape acreage survey, sent to growers last April, gathered data on grape by type (wine, table, juice), variety, age, planting density and vineyard location by American Viticultural Area (AVA) 1 and county.
The last acreage survey conducted for the industry was for crop year 2001*. Wineries received the paper survey in December. The survey, modeled after yearly winery surveys conducted by the Oregon wine industry, measured results by variety on grape crush, storage capacity, inventories and sales. The results of the 2006 survey will be used as baseline figures for future surveys.
The industry is pleased with the results of the surveys, said Vicky Scharlau, WWIF executive director. We know the wine industry is growing quickly but need to know how quickly and in what areas so both growers and wineries can use the information to better manage their growth while planning for the future.
The full survey result reports may be viewed on the WWIF website at www.washingtonwinefoundation.org in the USDA grant section, or on the USDA NASS website at www.nass.usda.gov/wa by selecting fruit in the drop down box under publications.
Wine Grape Acreage Survey results show that in 2006 there were at total of 31,000 acres planted in wine grapes, an increase of 3,000 acres since 2002. Of that, 13,649 acres are planted in white grape varieties, an increase of 1,649 acres; and 17,351 acres are planted in red varieties, an increase of 1,351 acres.
White acreage (ranked in order): 1. Chardonnay, 5,992 acres a decrease of 648 acres 2. White Riesling, 4,404 acres an increase of 2,204 acres 3. Sauvignon Blanc, 993 acres an increase of 283 acres 4. Gewurztraminer, 632 acres a decrease of 38 acres
Red acreage (ranked in order): 1. Cabernet Sauvignon, 5,959 acres a decrease of 91 acres 2. Merlot, 5,853 acres a decrease of 127 acres 3. Syrah, 2,831 acres an increase of 731 acres 4. Cabernet Franc, 1,157 acres an increase of 407 acres 5. Pinot Noir, 314 acres an increase of 24 acres
Wine grape acreage by AVA: Columbia Gorge 210 Columbia Valley 6,693 Horse Heaven Hills 6,667 Puget Sound - 130 Rattlesnake Hills 1,380 Red Mountain 680 Wahluke Slope 4,755 Walla Walla Valley 1,000 Yakima Valley 9,485
Juice Grape Acreage Survey results show that 105 acres were planted in crop year 2005, for total crop year 2006 acreage of 25,989. Of that, 23,989 are planted in Concord and 2,000 are planted in Niagara varieties.
Winery Survey Results Summary According to the Washington Liquor Control Board, in July 2006 Washington had 427 registered wineries, with 234 of those wineries crushing approximately 120,000 tons of Washington-grown grapes.
Top varieties crushed, in tons (Washington-grown): 1. Chardonnay, 28,600 2. Riesling, 23,800 3. Cabernet Sauvignon, 20,000 4. Merlot, 19,100 5. Syrah, 8,200
Winery respondents also crushed 500 tons of grapes grown in other states, including Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Sauvignon Blanc and Sangiovese varieties. According to the winery survey report, unfulfilled wine grape needs totaled approximately 240 tons. Syrah, Petit Verdot and Pinot Gris were the most needed. Also unfulfilled were needs for organic grapes.
Wineries reported 37.631 million gallons of cooperage.
Wine Sales Total domestic wine sales from respondents in January 2007 were 5.366 million cases including sales direct to consumers and to distributors, retailers and restaurants.
* Sales direct to consumers (tasting rooms, internet, wine clubs, events), 213,000 cases * Sales to distributors, retailers and restaurants, 5.153 million cases. Of that 1.722 million cases went to Washington, Oregon and New York.
International sales of Washington wines equaled 135,000 cases including: * Canada, 26,000 cases * Japan, 11,000 cases * South Seas, 23,000 cases * All other Asian markets, 36,000 cases * All other markets, 38,000 cases
Fruit Wines Winery respondents also reported producing 22,500 gallons of fruit wine raspberry wine (6,150 gallons), blackberry wine (450 gallons) and other fruit wines (15,900 gallons) including apple, apricot, blueberry, cherry, cranberry, honey, marionberry, peach, pear, plum, rhubarb and strawberry.
The grant partnership also funded surveys in 2006 for Washington tree fruit acreage and Idaho tree fruit and grape acreage.
About The Grant Partnership The partnership is researching user-friendly, timely, basic industry information for grape and tree fruit growers to assist their decision-making with production, renewal, expansion, consolidation, and entry/exit.
Specific tools include an industry database for use in vineyards and wineries in the Pacific Northwest; cost-of-production calculators for organic and conventionally grown apples, cherries, grapes, and pears; automated crop load and yield estimation techniques for grapes; and using new technology for acreage inventories by crop, variety, and age for both tree fruit and grapes.
The funds for this work are from a partnership grant between the Washington Wine Industry Foundation and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC), through the Risk Management Agency (RMA) titled: Grower Decision-Making Tools for Grapes and Tree Fruit. The grant tree fruit partner is the Washington Growers Clearing House Association. Other northwest grant collaborators include: Oregon Wine Board, Idaho Grape Growers and Wine Producers Commission, Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission, Washington State Grape Society and Washington Association of Wine Grape Growers.
The USDA awarded twelve research partnerships for a total of $5.1 million toward the research and development of new non-insurance risk management tools. The grant submitted by the Washington Wine Industry Foundation is the largest Research and Development Agreement awarded. Funding for these agreements is made available under the Federal Crop Insurance Act provisions for risk management and implementation of research and development, community outreach and assistance, and crop insurance education in targeted states. USDAs Risk Management Agency (RMA) administers the projects.
The grant partnership benefits the almost 1,000 grape producers, 800+ wineries and six juice processors in the Pacific Northwest grape industry and the 4,000 growers and 80 warehouse processors in the tree fruit industry, encompassing apples, pears and cherries. The resulting tools will also benefit industry providers such as lenders, insurance, sales, marketing research, extension, and others.
1 An American Viticultural Area (AVA) is a defined geographic region where wine grapes are grown. The U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) oversees AVA designations. Washington has nine recognized AVA appellations Yakima Valley, Walla Walla Valley, Columbia Valley, Horse Heaven Hills, Puget Sound, Red Mountain, Columbia Gorge, Wahluke Slope and Rattlesnake Hills.
*The 2001 survey was conducted in late 2001 with results releases in early 2002. The USDA NASS results refer to this survey as year 2002. The 2006 survey was conducted earlier in 2006 and is referred to by USDA NASS as year 2006.