page_title: Washington wine
section_title: Challenges in the consumer market
hierarchical_section_title: Washington wine / Challenges in the consumer market
caption_attribution_description: This is the picture that you see in most bottles of Chateau Ste. Michelle wines from Washington state.
context_page_description: Washington wine is wine produced from grape varieties grown in the U.S. state of Washington. Washington ranks second in the United States in the production of wine. By 2017, the state had over 55,000 acres of vineyards, a harvest of 229,000 short tons of grapes, and exports going to over 40 countries around the world from the 940+ wineries located in the state. While there are some viticultural activities in the cooler, wetter western half of the state, the majority of wine grape production takes place in the shrub-steppe eastern half. The rain shadow of the Cascade Range leaves the Columbia River Basin with around 8 inches of annual rain fall, making irrigation and water rights of paramount interest to the Washington wine industry. Viticulture in the state is also influenced by long sunlight hours and consistent temperatures.
  The early history of the Washington wine industry can be traced to the introduction of Cinsault grapes by Italian immigrants to the Walla Walla region. In the 1950s and 1960s, the precursors of the state's biggest wineries were founded.
context_section_description: In his book Washington Wines and Wineries: The Essential Guide, Paul Gregutt, a wine writer for The Seattle Times and Wine Enthusiast, found that there is a common perception that Washington does not excel with any particular flagship variety or blend, as is common in most of the world's notable wine regions such as Napa Valley with Cabernet Sauvignon, the Mosel with Riesling, Australia with Shiraz, Chablis with Chardonnay and Pomerol with Merlot-based blends. There is also a perception that Washington wines are more expensive than other New World wine regions despite the fact that the state's two largest producers (Chateau Ste. Michelle and Columbia Winery) focus primarily on value wine production. This may be partly due, as Gregutt noted, to the fact that many consumers think that Chateau Ste. Michelle and Columbia Winery are California wine producers.  While some wineries in Washington are large corporate-run businesses, many Washington wineries are small family-run businesses, with production often less than 25,000 gallons per year.  Smaller wineries typically sell much or even a majority of their production direct to consumers through tasting rooms.
  Despite producing significantly more wine than neighboring Oregon, Washington wine lags far behind in consumer recognition among the general wine market. Wine experts such as Tom Stevenson speculate that this is because the wine industry in Oregon is uniquely associated with one main varietal – Pinot noir – while Washington has yet to shape an identity around any particular varietal or blend but instead aims to succeed in producing many varietals and blends of high quality. The similarity between the name of the state and the capital of the United States – Washington D.C. – may also contribute to the wine industry's lower profile. Master of Wine Bob Betz, who represented Chateau Ste. Michelle for 28 years as an educator and now makes wine under his own label, noted that often in his travels internationally and across the United States he would get asked "which side of the Potomac?" that Washington wine grapes were grown on. According to Betz, a significant challenge to the Washington wine industry is increasing consumer awareness and name recognition of the state's AVAs that appear on wine labels. There are 12 AVAs in Washington State.
caption: Chateau Ste. Michelle Wine Estates is the largest producer in Washington State.
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