Vineyard & Winery Management

September/October 2012

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VINEYARD NORTHWEST WATCH SeVein = More Wine Walla Walla parcels could ease grape shortages for buyers Gary Werner is a Seattle-based wine industry journalist and communications consultant, and the former communications director for the Washington Wine Commission. hen E. & J. Gallo pur- chased two Washington state wine brands this spring, it indirectly under- scored a problem back in California: the systemic shortage of grapes. The persistently slug- gish economy of recent years had firmly choked financing and put the brakes on vineyard development. Then challenging regional weath- er in both 2010 and 2011 led to decreased yields. Meanwhile, con- sumer demand for wine continued to grow, so prices for grapes and bulk wines surged. Reacting to that trend, the Cali- fornia industry has pulled the pro- verbial trigger and started planting again; but vine nursery stocks are very low. Also, the high cost of suitable land, environmental regu- lations and access to water remain perennial hindrances. So it's likely that another six years will pass before balance can be restored to Golden State production. Cue Gallo's acquisition of Colum- bia Winery and Covey Run. Also cue the trip made by a handful of Washington wine industry pioneers to Northern California this past May. They met with local peers to discuss vineyard land in the Walla Walla Valley, and the results of those meetings indicated that busi- nesses beyond Gallo are interested in the Northwest. "We spent five days in Napa, Sonoma and Lodi," said Norm McKibben, one of the group that traveled south for the presenta- tions. "And we were pleasantly surprised by the number of people who attended. We must have had WWW.VWM-ONLINE.COM GARY WERNER Parcels of the 1,800-acre SeVein vineyard development, in Washington's Walla Walla Valley AVA, are available for purchase. a dozen people at the meeting in Lodi. It all went very well." Their trip was not a promotional tour for Washington as a whole, nor even for the Walla Walla Valley in any general sense. McKibben and his partners were raising aware- ness about their 1,800-acre vine- yard development called SeVein. They believe it represents a great opportunity for high-end California producers to expand their holdings. For multiple reasons, they could be right. PRIME GROUND Toward the south end of the Walla Walla Valley AVA in eastern SEPT - OCT 2012 VINEYARD & WINERY MANAGEMENT 29 SHORT COURSE SeVein extends above the highly acclaimed Seven Hills Vineyard. Acquiring and developing the property took five years of persis- tent effort. Early buyers are very pleased with the high quality of fruit off their sites. Setup and operational costs are lower than prime vineyard land in California. Founding partners are involved as vineyard owners for the long term.

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