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Rob Andrews, one of the state's wine grape pioneers, says the early years of grape growing— where the goal with irrigation was high tonnage—were way different than today. Andrews credits much of his learning to viticulture consultants Dr. Wade Wolfe, Jerry Bookwalter, and researchers at Ste. Michelle Wine Estates. The Washington Association of Wine Grape Growers will present the Erick Hanson Memorial Award to Grape Grower of the Year 1940s, breaking land out of sagebrush to grow dryland wheat. Andrews's father, Bob, joined Smith, his father-in- law, and began making a major farm improvement by drilling wells for ground water in the 1960s and 70s. Today, the entire farm is irrigated with well water, a move that allowed the family to diversify beyond dryland farming into row and forage crops, tree fruit, and grapes. After graduating from Prosser High School in 1977, Andrews attended Washington State University and was able to take only agriculture classes that he was interested in—soils, horticulture, pest management, agriculture electricity, and such. He returned to the farm one year later and spent the next 15 years in charge of the family farm's irrigation, which included center pivots used on vegetable and forage crops. Today, Andrews spends all of his time on the viticul- ture side of the family farm, which is divided into three vineyard entities, with various family members as part- ners. His brother Scott manages the family's row crops; sister Sandy and her husband, Doug Rowell, are involved in the winery and vineyards; and fourth- generation fam- ily members (including Rob's son Justin and son-in-law Daryl) are getting involved. Another brother Mike has his own nearby vineyard and winery called Coyote Canyon. Two sisters are not involved in the family farm. Grape pioneers Andrews planted the family's first grapes in 1979. With few wine grapes planted then in the state, he first planted Concord juice grapes. "Concords do really well here because of the high heat units," Andrews said. Berry sugars are usually up around 18 to 19 percent and their Concords receive a premium for the high Brix. About 75 acres of Concords are now grown, mostly planted in the lowlands. In 1980, they planted their first wine grapes. Ste. Chapelle Winery was looking for more wine grapes from the area, Andrews said, noting that neighbor Don Mercer was selling wine grapes to the Idaho winery. The family planted 17 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon that year, and www.goodfruit.com another 15 acres of Chenin Blanc in 1981, contracting the grapes to Ste. Chapelle. But just as the vineyard began to produce a crop, Ste. Chapelle cancelled their contracts. "Fortunately for us, Columbia Crest Rob Andrews during its annual convention, Winery was just starting up and picked up all but five acres of our Cabernet, which went to Staton Hills Winery (now Sage- lands) in Yakima Valley," he said. Today, their grapes are contracted with 25 wineries. By 1996, the Andrews family had 75 acres of wine February 7-10. grapes and continued adding grape acreage during the next ten years. But their major vineyard expansion began in 2006 when some 1,000 acres were added to the family vineyard entities, bringing the total to about 2,050 acres of wine grapes. Expansion was due to new winery con- tracts and a desire to involve fourth-generation family members. Disease-free vines When Andrews began planting in the 1980s, certified grape stock was scarce in the Pacific Northwest, so he used cuttings from the nearby Mercer vineyard for his first Cabernet Sauvignon block. "In fact, 90 percent of all our Cabernet was propagated from the old Mercer vineyard." But don't think that he cut corners by not buying certi- fied nursery material. He has tested every vineyard block for disease and checks vines for symptoms during the year to ensure they stay disease free. "When we were expanding, I tested all of our blocks so I would know if I could use cuttings in our expansion. I've been really picky about knowing the source of our wood." All of the tests have come back negative for grapevine leafroll virus, except for a four-acre block of Chardonnay that came from a nursery. They take steps to keep the isolated block from contaminating other blocks and will eventually replant it. • GOOD FRUIT GROWER FEBRUARY 1, 2012 25 melissa hansen melissa hansen