A good year for wine grapes at Sagemoor Vineyards

MATTAWA — There was some worry when it got hot in June and stayed hot in July but, according to Sagemoor Vineyards Manager Miguel Rodriguez, it was a good year for wine grapes on the Wahluke Slope.

“Some growers said they were down a little, but it was so little that it meant hardly anything,” Rodriguez said.

“We were worried during the hot period because the sugar was rising too fast, and the flavor wasn’t rising,” he added.

Rodriguez said there was certainly enough sun. And there was plenty of water in spite of drought conditions across much of the state.

The one challenge the extra sun presented was an early start to harvest. The pickers began on Aug. 20. They will be finished between Oct. 10-15.

The price was good because it was a contracted price. All of the Sagemoor grapes are sold before they are cultivated.

“It’s a good price for us and for the buyers, and it rarely changes,” Rodriguez said. “It’s a very good quality for the price they pay.”

Sagemoor produces about 3,000 tons a year. Rodriguez expects to hit that mark again this year.

“When the weather cooled down in August, everything started to click,” he said. “It’s the hot days and cool nights of August and September that gave us the same good quality.”

The Wahluke Slope has been growing by leaps and bounds as a wine region ever since it was discovered to have soil and climate similar to the grape regions of France.

Sagemoor started with 250 acres in 1981, Rodriguez said. It is now up to 465 acres.

“There are vineyards on the slope that are twice as big, three time as big,” Rodriguez said.

Rodriquez doesn’t know exactly how many wine grape acres there are on the slope, but he guesses that number is starting to approach 10,000.

“I’m guessing wine grapes have grown by 80 percent since we started,” Rodriguez said.