Good Fruit Grower

July 2013

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Grapes Wine industry MATURES Dick Boushey, an inexperienced wine grape grower when Washington's wine industry got started, has matured into a premier grower. Like many Yakima Valley wine grape growers, Dick Boushey was an apple grower first. His last apple block has been replanted to wine grapes, but he still has a Rainier cherry block. by Melissa Hansen good way to appreciate Yakima Valley's role in developing the wine industry of Washington State is to follow the progression of Dick Boushey's early farming years to his current operation. Since planting wine grapes more than 35 years ago, he's learned through trial and error, honed his growing skills, and developed his vineyard into one that's widely recognized by winemakers and consumers. The Yakima Valley American Viticultural Area, the state's oldest designated appellation, is celebrating 30 years. Good Fruit Grower interviewed growers and wineries earlier this year to learn about the region's history, wine grape pioneers, and how Yakima Valley fits in today's wine world. This is one of several stories that will appear in Good Fruit Grower this summer. Apples are the number-one crop in Washington and in the Yakima Valley. Many of the valley's early wine grape growers in Yakima Valley started out as tree fruit growers and added wine grapes in the 1980s and 1990s to their mix of crops. Boushey is no exception. He and his wife, Luanne, started farming in Grandview, Washington, in 1975 and grew Red and Golden Delicious apples. Boushey and his father bought their apple orchard together with the idea that the younger Boushey would manage it for a year until his father moved over from western Washington. One year turned into four, says Boushey. "That first year, Luanne and I felt like we were stuck here. We were both from the west side, newly married, and we weren't sure this was really what we wanted to be doing." Two years later, Boushey added an experimental block of wine grapes to the apple orchard. He'd met Dr. Walter Clore, George Carter (Clore's assistant), and other Washington State University researchers who were studying wine grapes as a "new" crop for the state. Clore, later Now's The Time To Sample! Leaf Analysis shows •Tree structure responding to optimal or stressed conditions •Nutrient uptake relative to healthy/ damaged cambium •Relationship to carbohydrate supply Fruit Analysis shows •Fruit mineral accumulation levels •Potential for storage disorders •Data for optimum storage segregation 509-662-1888 Wenatchee, WA 98801 509-452-7707 Union Gap, WA 9890 800-545-4206 www.cascadeanalytical.com 28 July 2013 GOOD FRUIT GROWER www.goodfruit.com

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