Seattle Times
January 19, 2018

During the past decade, the number of regional wineries has increased by 400 percent.

Washington state has blossomed into the second-largest premium wine producer in the U.S., closing in on California. During the past decade, the number of regional wineries has increased by 400 percent — and there’s no sign that the industry will be slowing down anytime soon.

“We can’t compete with the size or magnitude of California’s wine industry, so we’ve focused on a niche market of upper-tier wines,” says Vicky Scharlau, executive director, Washington Wine Growers. “We’ve done a great job of producing high-quality wines at a great value.”

Washington wines: Great value

The Washington State Wine Commission predicts that wine grape acreage statewide will increase from more than 56,000 acres in 2016 to more than 79,000 acres in 2023, and the cases of Washington state wine sold will continue to grow by 5 percent annually, from 13.13 million cases in 2016 to 18.4 million cases in 2023. This growth is due in part to the availability of relatively inexpensive land (compared with California and France) and the high quality of grapes grown in the sun-drenched, mineral-rich soil of Eastern Washington.

“Washington wines are a great value proposition,” says Ted Baseler, president and CEO, Ste. Michelle Wine Estates, the largest wine producer in the state, headquartered in Woodinville with vineyards in Eastern Washington>>>Read the entire article on The Seattle Times