The Wine Knows

The Oregonian published an article in which Bill Hatcher of A to Z (and formerly of Domaine Drouhin Oregon) believes the state is headed toward a grape glut. Others, notably David Adelsheim and Dick Shea, disagree.

Ever wonder how Columbia Crest manages to consistently make millions of bottles of wine for bargain prices? Ray Einberger and his crew at the Northwest's largest winery amaze me every time I pop the cork on one of their wines.

Last week's blast of cold weather that swept into the Pacific Northwest helped British Columbia wineries finally finish their 2007 harvest - well into 2008.

Lisa Cameron of the British Columbia Wine Institute reported that 24 wineries harvested 520 tons of ice wine grapes this season, with everything wrapped up Thursday.

The USDA has released its 2007 grape report for Washington state. As expected, it reported that Washington's wine grape crop was 127,000 tons, up 6 percent over 2006 and 15 percent over 2005. California's wine grape crop was 3.16 million tons, up from 3.13 million in 2006. New York was No. 3 at 41,000 tons. Oregon was No. 4 at 38,000 tons, up from 34,400 in 2006 and 25,000 tons in 2005.

British Columbia's 2007 ice wine harvest has been so low-key, I've gotten exactly one report from Okanagan Valley wineries. So I sent a note to the B.C. Wine Institute for an update.

Here's what Lisa Cameron, communications manager, told me.

A blast of winter cold helped British Columbia's ice wine harvest finally get under way.

At Inniskillin Okanagan near Oliver, winemaker Sandor Mayer had crews ready just before midnight on New Year's Eve and picking Riesling and Tempranillo by 2 a.m. when temperatures dropped to about -10 Celsius.

It's been a fascinating and news-filled year for the wine industries of the Pacific Northwest, with weather causing havoc during harvest, pioneers passing away, Ste. Michelle Wine Estates gaining as a major national player and an iconoclastic California winemaker setting up shop in Washington.

Except for a bit of ice wine, harvest for the 2007 vintage is all finished. Jackie Johnston, who takes most of the photographs for Wine Press Northwest (and who collaborated with Braiden Rex-Johnson in her new Northwest Wining & Dining book), spent much of this autumn in vineyards throughout the Pacific Northwest taking photos.

The Washington Association of Wine Grape Growers is reporting that the final estimated number for the 2007 harvest is 127,150 tons of wine grapes. This is a record, surpassing last year's harvest of 120,000 tons (which surpassed 2005's record number of 116,760 tons).

Over the weekend, I stopped at Fidelitas to chat with owner/winemaker Charlie Hoppes about how harvest went for him.

Charlie is a longtime Washington winemaker who cut his teeth as a red winemaker for Chateau Ste. Michelle before helping to start Three Rivers Winery in 1999. In 2000, he started Fidelitas and also helped childhood chum Victor Cruz launch Cañon De Sol. This year, Fidelitas opened its tasting room on Sunset Road on Red Mountain and has been off and running ever since.