Wine industry development in WA

The Washington wine industry began in the early nineteenth century. French, German, and Italian settlers lead the way for the growth of wine grapes in the state as they planted their vines along their travels. As people settled around the state, wine grapes were planted and used for the home. The very first commercial Washington vines were planed by the Hudson Bay Company in Fort Vancouver (Carew, Florkowski, 2012). In the 1930’s, Dr. Walter Clore began his extension work with Washington State University. Dr. Clore is recognized as “the Father of Washington Wine” because of his work cultivating varieties for the region and analyzing the various Washington lands to find what would grow best. As one of the first to successfully populate the Prosser area with wine grapes, Dr. Clore was dedicated the Walter Clore Wine and Culinary Center in Prosser, WA (https://www.theclorecenter.org). Today, Washington state ranks second in the nation for wine production with vineyards spanning over 50,000 acres of land (washingtonwine.org). In total, Washington has 14 American Viticultural Areas (AVA’s) across the state with the western part of the state accounting for about 1% of the total production. Cabernet Sauvignon continues to be the top producing variety and red varieties account for roughly 51% of the total grape production.