Pic of the Vine - January 2019

The sun never sets on vineyard work in Washington wine country. With spring inching closer, vineyards need pruning and shaping.

From opposite ends of the state, contributing photographer Richard Duval captured two such examples last week. Under grey skies, Greg Osenbach pruned estate vines at his Whidbey Island Winery. Meanwhile, hundreds of miles due east, a cold but clear morning illuminated the freshly pruned vineyard of Two Mountain Winery in Yakima Valley.

Recent trends in Washington wine

The following article is from the Winter issue of Washington Tasting Room Magazine.

Six new AVAs on the horizon, a stellar vintage for white wines, greener packaging and new winery management are among key trends shaping the state’s wine industry

Washington saw its sixth straight warm vintage in 2018. Near perfect weather conditions in September and October capped off the growing season, with winemakers expecting high quality wines to result. Here’s a look at some of the trends we saw this year in the state’s wine industry.

Cabernet Sauvignon Continues To Drive Growth

In late 2017 the state completed its latest grapevine acreage study, the first since 2011. There were a number of eye-popping findings, foremost of which was an 81% increase in plantings of Cabernet Sauvignon over a seven-year period. Driven by Cabernet, red grape plantings in general increased by 43%, with white varieties growing more modestly in the low single digits. Overall, grapevine acreage in the state was up more than 25% this decade.

This leads to the conclusion that Washington is increasingly becoming Cabernet country, a strong trend that will continue in the coming years. Furthermore it’s clear the state is tilting increasingly towards becoming a red wine dominated state. Expect red wine grape plantings to continue to rise in the coming years.

Read the rest of the article here.

Program would allow Washington prison inmates to work in vineyard, hopyard

A newly proposed program by the Washington State Department of Corrections (DOC) would allow state penitentiary inmates to work at a Walla Walla vineyard and hopyard. The program would be run in partnership with a local management company, Walla Walla Vineyard Management (WWVM). The goal is to provide inmates with skills that could be used upon release.

“We work to help individuals gain marketable job skills so that, when they are going out into the community, they are able to obtain a living wage job to support their families and to support themselves, so they don’t…recidivate,” Danielle Armbruster, DOC assistant secretary for reentry, said at a press conference on January 29^th.

WWVM co-founder Jeremy Petty said he and Wesley Marcum, DOC Correctional Industries private enterprise program manager, have been working on the proposal for the past three years.

“The idea I have is to show them planting all the way up to harvesting,” said Petty. “We’ll plant a little bit each year, every year, so everybody gets the same kind of curriculum.”

The program would eventually also partner with Walla Walla Community College, which works with the prison on various vocational initiatives. Inmates would work in the vineyard during the day and take educational classes at night, focusing on soil science, infrastructure development, irrigation pump technology, and harvesting.

“We have this person with all of these college credits. They are now very sought after. They are very employable,” said Brent Caulk, dean of education at Walla Walla Community College’s Washington State Penitentiary Prison Education Program.

Washington State Penitentiary sits on a 540-acre property in Walla Walla and houses approximately 2,550 inmates, from maximum security to minimum security. Inmates would apply for the program, which would be part of the national Prison Industry Enhancement Certification Program. After internal review, they would be interviewed for positions by WWVM staff. The company aims to initially hire between four and six people.

“We want it to be a teaching vineyard and hopyard,” said WWVM co-founder Erin Aycock. “Each year we’ll progressively get bigger.”

For their work, inmates would be paid Washington State’s minimum wage, currently $12 per hour. “We’re paying comparable wage to the labor force within the same [Standard Occupational Code] in the same geographic area as a private enterprise is paying,” said Marcum. A business impact analysis is also being conducted to ensure no workforce is displaced and that the program is not competing unfairly with private enterprise.

The 5.2-acre site where the vineyard/hopyard would be is located within prison grounds but outside main facility walls. Inmates would be under supervision throughout. Grapes and hops produced would subsequently be sold on the open market to Walla Walla Valley’s 100+ wineries, with proceeds going to WWVM.

“It has to be profitable for us,” Petty said. “If it’s not profitable, it’s not going to work.”

If approved, Washington would join Colorado as one of only two states with vineyards farmed by prison inmates. It would be the first hopyard. Beyond additional state and federal reviews, the program would require a public comment period before approval.

“If all the stars aligned, we’re one or two years away,” said Caulk.

Take the 2019 Riesling Challenge!

Well, 2019 is here, and everyone needs a New Year’s resolution or two, especially ones that are achievable. This year, my resolution is to drink more Riesling. Specifically, it is to drink at least one bottle of Riesling per month, each month in 2019.

Why Riesling? First, it truly makes some of the world’s finest wines, and high quality examples can be found at affordable prices. Second, it is a variety that Washington does extremely well. Third, it is a great food pairing wine. And fourth, I just don’t drink anywhere near as much of it as I should. That changes this year.

Want to join me in the 2019 Riesling Challenge? Here’s how. At the end of each month, I’ll post on my Washington Wine Report Facebook page about what Riesling I’ve had that month and encourage others to do the same. This way, we’ll all keep each other accountable. I hope you will join me.

Here’s to a Riesling-filled 2019!