Wine Conference

Wine Conference

Wine Conference. I'm Greg Martin with today's Fruit Grower Report.

The Washington Association of Wine Grape Growers Annual Meeting, Convention, and Tradeshow runs through today at the Three Rivers Convention Center in Kennewick and boasts a very different look. WAWGG Executive Director, Vicky Scharlau explains.

SCHARLAU: We've changed virtually everything. We've put the trade show in the Convention Center and all the sessions, or most of the sessions are over in the Toyota Center because it really allows us more space when we have a tasting that has eight different glasses from eight different clones of cabernet throughout Washington State and you have 400 people, it takes a fair amount of space to put it together.

I asked Scharlau if change was indicative of the wine industry

SCHARLAU: I think some changes but the changes we've seen are really growth. We are on an upward spiral, if there is such a term. We have more vendors than we've ever had at the convention, we've had more attendees so far. Our poster session had more participants than we've ever had so I think we're, as Washington State, in a very good place.

With this kind of growth there has to be some challenges especially when it comes to competing with the number one wine state, California.

SCHARLAU: Well the challenge for Washington has always been that we can't compete with the size and the magnitude of California because they produce wines at all price points so Washington State to compete has always been the quality and premium focus so we've been at sort of that upper tier, upper echelon if you will, so to maintain our space there and our focus there has really been our success.

That's today's Fruit Grower Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network of the West.

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