The 2009 National Agricultural Statistics Service report for grapes is out and it is full of interesting information for the data junkies that some of us are (disclaimer: all those numbers are preliminary and will be revised one more time in July 2010). 2009 saw a 14% hike in the total amount of grapes harvested vs 2008 and we have picked 165,000 tons in 2009. California harvested 3.4 million tons in 2009 (for comparison) – or 11 million cases for WA vs 221 million for CA (note Washington is the second largest wine producer after California). Whites were 55 percent of the harvest (growing 20% vs 2008) and reds 45 percent (growing 7% vs 2008). Riesling (yeah) was the number one varietal as expected, though only beating Chardonnay by 300 tons and representing 21% of the total harvest. Riesling has grown by 23% in 2009 (yeah twice). Grape prices seem to be softening accross the board, down 4% overall probably reflecting a large increase in supplies combined with a softening super premium wine market. Top white varietals: Riesling YEAH (2.275 million cases worth), Chardonnay (2.255 million cases worth), Pinot Gris (.429 million cases worth), Sauvignon Blanc (0.279 million cases worth), Gewurztraminer YEAH (0.266 million cases worth). Top red varietals: Cabernet Sauvignon (1.852 million cases worth), Merlot (1.735 million cases worth), syrah (0.715 million cases worth), Cabernet Franc (.175 million cases). Go Washington!

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 28th, 2010 at 12:59 am and is filed under Riesling fanaticsm, Wine industry data monster. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.