Welcome,
|
| Request Activation |
The way things are going in Washington these days, the above headline needs a bit more information - because it seems like a Walla Walla winery is opening a second tasting room in Woodinville about every other week.
ROHNERT PARK, Calif. — Northwest wineries fared well at the 2010 Grand Harvest Awards, an international wine competition staged by Vineyard & Winery Management magazine.
OLYMPIA -- The state House of Representatives unanimously passed a bill Wednesday that would require anyone using the Washington wine label to use grapes grown in the state.
The bill was introduced by former Rep. Dan Newhouse before he was tapped by Gov. Chris Gregoire to become director of the Washington State Department of Agriculture.
Newhouse was sworn in for the job Tuesday. But while still representing the 15th District, the Sunnyside Republican said he wanted consumers to know that if they bought a Washington wine, they were getting a quality product.
Current law allows wines with a state label to have 75 percent of grapes grown in the state; or 85 percent if the wine labels itself as being from an American Viticulture Area, such as Red Mountain. Newhouse's proposal would raise that requirement to 95 percent.
Newhouse said he hadn't heard of any winemakers using inferior grapes from other states and passing them off as Washington-grown, he said. It just helps to brand Washington wines when they're being marketed outside the states.
The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration.
Wine Press Northwest is pleased to be able to offer its users the opportunity to make comments and hold conversations online. However, the interactive nature of the internet makes it impracticable for our staff to monitor each and every posting.
Since WinePressNW.com does not control user submitted statements, we cannot promise that readers will not occasionally find offensive or inaccurate comments posted on our website. In addition, we remind anyone interested in making an online comment that responsibility for statements posted lies with the person submitting the comment, not Wine Press Northwest.
If you find a comment offensive, clicking on exclamation icon will flag the comment for review by the administrators, we are counting on the good judgment of all our readers to help us.
Print
E-Mail