Valley wine harvest is all good

Bumper crops. Strong demand. Hiqh quality.

Four decades after the birth of the state's modern wine industry, the outlook from Central Washington's vineyards is good.

Last season's record crop of wine grapes is expected to be surpassed by nearly 12 percent. But instead of a surplus that could drive down prices, demand continues to grow as the wine industry expands, according to Paul Champoux, who grows 180 acres of grapes south of Prosser.

All that bodes well for the state's $3 billion wine industry, which includes growers, winemakers and a wide range of businesses that benefit from wine tourism.

A cold snap killed about half the cherry crop this spring and delayed the grape harvest, but otherwise hasn't hurt it.

At Airport Ranches near Sunnyside, harvest got under way last week -- about two weeks later than usual.

"We are just getting off to a good start," said owner Mike Miller, who also owns Airfield Estates, a Prosser winery.

Depending on the area, harvest has been delayed from a few days to about two weeks, said Vicky Scharlau, executive director of the Washington Association of Wine Grape Growers. The wine grape harvest typically begins in mid-September and ends in early November.

As growers continue to harvest new plantings,, this year's crop is expected to beat the record 127,020 tons harvested a year ago.

The state's crop is about 142,056 tons, according to a pre-harvest estimate from the association. Some of this year's crop will be reduced by thinning, but it is still expected to produce a record yield.

Much of those grapes come from the Yakima Valley, which makes up about a third of the state's crop. Those grapes will end up in wines throughout the Northwest.

"We have been extremely lucky in terms of how Mother Nature has dealt her cards to Washington state and the Pacific Northwest," Scharlau said.

One reason for the strong demand is that other areas have not been as fortunate.

California, whose harvest comes earlier in the year, experienced frost, then extreme heat, in the spring and early summer that caused a large drop in yields, said Karen Ross, president of the California Association of Wine Grape Growers.

But even with a 13.9 percent drop, the estimated 3.1 million tons that California growers expect to harvest this year puts Washington a distant second in wine grape harvest.

Meanwhile, Washington growers hope for more good weather in the next few weeks to ensure the crop's success. That means warm days and cool nights.

"You get the big swing (in temperatures) -- that's what helps the vine mature," said Rob Andrews of Andrews Horse Heaven Ranch and McKinley Springs Vineyards near the Alderdale area. "It senses that fall is coming and starts to get the sugar content and the flavors to come together."

But a constant amount of extremely cold weather can cause ripening to slow down or stop completely.

Another concern is the higher-than-usual acidity in some of the grapes, which necessitates the fruit staying on the vine a bit longer so the acidity levels can drop. Although Washington wine is known for its good acidity, too much makes wine too tart to drink, said David Lowe, co-owner and winemaker for Wineglass Cellars in Zillah. Lowe purchases his grapes from a variety of Yakima Valley vineyards.

Acidity aside, Lowe said he's been impressed with the quality of grapes he's picked so far. Winemakers usually come to a vineyard a few days before harvest to determine if the grapes are ready to be picked.

"The flavors that grapes have when they're vine-ripe are just so delicious," he said. "And I'm one of those winemakers who believes (those flavors) translate to the finished product."

Champoux recently delivered grapes for Andrew Will Winery in Vashon Island and Quilceda Creek Vintners in Snohomish. He is selling white grapes for about $1,000 a ton and red grapes for anywhere from $1,800 to $3,000 a ton.

And winemakers could not be happier with the quality of this year's crop, he said: "It looks like another banner year."

Grape prices may vary by area -- some wineries demand grapes from specific vineyards -- and the types of wineries purchasing the grapes, Miller said. A boutique winery, for example, is willing to pay a premium for grapes while a bigger winery producing wine for lower prices may pay less.

But grape prices don't directly translate into how much a consumer pays for a bottle of wine, he said.

Factors such as the cost of producing the wine, making the labels, transporting the product and demand for a particular wine can all factor into how much wineries will charge for a bottle.

"As a winery, we're also looking at pressures of the economy," he said. "That would also come to play as far as the success of our business."

* Mai Hoang can be reached at 577-7685 or mhoang@yakimaherald.com.

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