Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/155925
NORTHWEST WATCH SEAN P. SULLIVAN do you get more people? Well, you need to offer services," he said. "How do you offer services? You need more people." Washington's unique separation of winery and vineyard further compounds the problem. "A lot of the higher-end fruit leaves the valley," Boushey noted. Indeed, while many Yakima Valley wines receive critical acclaim, a number of wineries producing these wines are located in Woodinville, Walla Walla or elsewhere outside Yakima Valley. This directly impacts the valley's ability to promote itself and draw wine tourism. Yakima Valley's strength as a diverse growing region also complicates its growth. "The tree fruit industry is pretty healthy and you're in tough competition for that ground," Boushey said. "The wine grape guys have had to kind of weasel their way in." Added Williams, "You can grow 16 or 17 of the top 20 fruits in the Yakima Valley. So if apples are real good, then there is less incentive to be planting grapes." BRIGHT FUTURE Still, Wolfe believes that much of the hard work has already been accomplished. "It's been a huge evolution over the last 30 years, learning what the potential was, how to grow the grapes, and what varieties to grow," he said. "I think we're slowly but surely getting the word out so that people are coming back and revisiting the valley. They're seeing what has happened here, what the potential is, and the quality that you see in the resulting wines." "We put our tasting room temporarily in the basement of my parents' house in 1983 because that seemed like the perfectly logical thing to do," said Kiona's Williams. "The idea that anybody would come to Washington, or Benton City in particular, to taste wine was pretty ludicrous. Now, it's common to get a couple hundred people on a Saturday during the summer. It's pretty mind-boggling." For Boushey, as Yakima Valley celebrates its 30th birthday, the region has turned the corner. "I think right now there's kind of a renaissance," he said. "People are coming back. We've weathered the storm in the Yakima Valley." Sean P. Sullivan is the founder of Washington Wine Report and a contributing editor for Wine Enthusiast magazine. He has written for a variety of publications including Seattle Metropolitan, Edible Seattle, Decanter and Wine Press Northwest. Sullivan lives in Seattle. Comments? Please e-mail us at feedback@vwmmedia.com. DISEASE TESTING Healthy Vineyards. Healthy Business. Eurofins STA Laboratories is the world's leader in grapevine disease detection. Staffed with Plant Pathologists having expertise in virus, fungi, and bacteria, vines are always tested using more than one detection method* yielding the most reliable results. Results You Can Trust! (Would you have it any other way?) For more information, Judit Monis, Ph.D. 408-846-9964 or 888-782-5220 www.eurofinsus.com/stalabs STA Laboratories * (as technology allows) w w w. v w m media.com S e p t - O c t 2 0 13 | V I N E YA R D & W I N E RY M A N A G E M E N T 29