News on Youtube Jan 1 2019

Today I'm in Prosser

at The Walter Clore Wine and Culinary Center.

I'm meeting with Melissa Hansen, the research program manager

for the Washington State Wine Commission,

an organization that represents all wine grape growers

and each licensed winery in the state.

Over a glass of wine,

we're talking about the history of Washington wine growers

and why Washington produces some of the best wine in the world.

Well, let's kind of go back in history a little bit

and tell me about how Washington wine industry got started here.

The wine industry

is actually closely linked to concord grapes.

Okay.

Back in the early 1900s there were little pockets of grapes,

all types of grapes, grown in the state.

There was a very small, but it was growing,

but a very small little industry

because you can make wine out of any fruit obviously.

Yeah.

So it's a little different style of wine

than what we drink today, very sweet wine...

Out of the concord.

Out of the concord grapes.

And they just blended all the grapes

and things were starting to grow and then came Prohibition, 1919.

Just screeched it to a halt.

Put the brakes on.

Melissa explains that when Prohibition started

it actually created a boom for concord grapes in Washington

because homeowners were allowed to make up to 200 gallons

of wine in their home without a permit.

With that allowance,

there was a sudden demand for grapes across the country.

So Prohibition lifted and, yes, wineries sprang back to life and

there, we're about 42

right about the time when Prohibition lifted.

At that same time though, Dr. Walter Clore,

who the center is named after, came to WSU as a horticulturist

and he saw potential in our state

as a premium wine producer.

So he was sort of our little Johnny Appleseed.

Yeah.

And he went throughout the state and planted, worked with growers

and planted a few trials.

Few grapes here, and there and planted Vitis Vinifera,

the European Grapes.

Research is a cornerstone of our Washington wine industry.

Because of Walter Clore's research and vision,

Washington is now the second largest producing wine region

in the nation, with more than 900 wineries

and 50 to 65 thousand acres of grapes.

What's some of the research that's going on right now

that you could talk about for the wine industry?

Oh! We have, like I mentioned,

there's about a million dollars of projects.

Everything from how to fine-tune the irrigation

for white varieties.

We know how to do it with red, we focus now on the white.

Vineyard mechanization.

Obviously, labor is becoming a big issue,

so we're making sure that if you use mechanical thinners

and mechanical pruners,

that it doesn't impact, negatively impact, the quality.

All of the research that we do

has an overriding goal to improve wine quality.

Melissa says both the wine commission

and the industry itself facilitates

and directly supports the wine research being done,

which is another unique trait about the Washington wine.

Well I think we should toast to Dr. Clore, right?

To Dr. Clore.

And Washington wines.

And Washington wines.