FUN FACT:
Chardonnay is still Washington's #1 most popular wine! In fact, it's America's favorite variety as well. A bit of history from Great NW Wines' Eric Degerman and Andy Perdue.
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The state’s first chardonnay vines were planted in Yakima Valley near Prosser in 1964. However, the first documented commercial planting took place a year later in Sunnyside. By 1968, there were 9 acres of chardonnay in the ground.
In the 1970s, Chateau Ste. Michelle began to invest in earnest, and 1,000 acres of chardonnay were planted in Columbia Valley by 1982. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Northwest Regional Field Office reported in 1999 that chardonnay ranked No. 1 in Washington state for plantings at 6,100 acres, which represented 25% of the state’s 24,000 total wine grape acreage." According to The New York Intelligencer "After about 25 years after Chardonnay became “unfashionable,” Americans still drink more of it than any other kind of wine. IRI, the Chicago-based market research firm, says Chardonnay accounted for about one-fifth of table wine sold through retail channels in the U.S. during the 52 weeks.
Photo credits
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Richard Duval Images
