So You Think You Know Pacific Coast Wines (2018-2019 Edition)

Book excerpt: “So You Think You Know Pacific Coast Wines” is designed to simplify your understanding by identifying growing trends, grape descriptions, the histories and future direction of the California, Washington and Oregon wine industry. This book concisely profiles each state’s leading growing regions, rainfall statistics and prominent grapes based on the most recent available harvest data. The 2018-19 edition is ideal for wine collectors, winemakers and anyone who appreciates a world class Pacific Coast grown vintage. The following facts are just ten from hundreds of little known essentials included in the book: 1. California is the top producing state, Washington second and Oregon fourth (behind New York) in American wine grape production. California harvested just over 4 million tons and Washington 227 thousand tons during the 2017 harvest. Oregon harvested 79.8 thousand tons during the 2016 harvest. Washington’s harvest is only 5.6% and Oregon’s 2% of California’s overall production. 2. Cabernet Sauvignon is California’s second most popular and second highest priced red wine grape. It is Washington’s most popular and sixth highest priced. The average Napa Valley grown grape is priced between two and seventeen times more than competing states and regions within California. Napa grown Cabernet Sauvignon traditionally sells out before picking even commences. 3. California decreased wine grape production by less than 1% and Washington by 16% during 2017. The decline followed new state records from the year previous. 4. California has 3,670+, Washington 940+, and Oregon 725+ wineries. California has seventeen designated growing regions. Washington has fourteen and Oregon five. 5. With Washington’s red grape varietals at 130.5 thousand tons, the closest California equivalent is the Monterey and San Benito Counties growing region (140.9 thousand tons). 6. Pinot Noir is Oregon’s largest harvested grape accounting for 57.5% of the state’s wine grape production and is the second highest priced. It is California’s fifth most popular and Washington’s fourteenth most popular red wine grape. 7. Oregon’s wine grape production (79,782 tons in 2016) most closely compares with the Mendocino County growing region of California (70,488 tons in 2017). 8. Chardonnay is California’s largest harvested grape accounting for 34% of the white wine grapes and 15.3% of the state’s overall yield. It is the twenty-fifth highest priced white wine grape. It is Washington’s second largest wine grape, most popular white wine grape, and the fifteenth highest priced overall. It is Oregon’s third largest produced, second highest white wine grape and sixth highest priced. 9. California’s wines were considered the equal to European’s elite vintages in 1890. Following the phylloxera pest and Prohibition, the state would not regain their global reputation until the mid-1970s. Washington’s international reputation began during the 1990s and Oregon’s during the 1980s. 10. Real Estate valuation remains the most important financial consideration influencing the value of varietal grapes. Top-tiered Washington vineyards have commanded pricing between $75,000-$80,000 per acre. Large established vineyards have been documented to sell for $25,000-$30,000 and bare unplanted terrain often averages $10,000-$15,000 per acre. In Napa County, secondary vineyard lands begin at $90,000-$165,000 an acre. Prime vineyards range between $225,000-$300,000 and upwards per acre.