Welcome,
|
| Request Activation |
It has long been rumored that the few rows of vines at the entrance to Chateau Ste. Michelle in Woodinville, Wash., were required so the winery could be called a "chateau."
PROSSER -- Construction is expected to start soon on the next phase of what backers say will be the state's premier educational and promotional center for Washington's wines and food products.
Wine drinkers typically assume wineries are environmentally sustainable, an impression that is reinforced if vineyards achieve certification of that status from reputable consumer or environmental organizations, experts say.
The annual Washington Association of Wine Grape Growers annual meeting, convention and trade show opened Wednesday in Kennewick, luring grape and wine industry representatives from throughout the Northwest, California and Canada to the Three Rivers Convention Center.
The show, which includes panels and continuing education sessions, continues through Friday.
A panel today will detail how wineries can save money, increase sales and reduce their impact on the environment.
On Wednesday, speakers focused on how consumers view environmental sustainability at a panel that included a fifth-generation vineyard manager from California, a representative of a Bellevue-based firm that tracks consumer health and wellness trends and an official with Salmon-Safe, a nonprofit dedicated to restoring agricultural and urban watersheds to maintain salmon runs.
"Wine is already perceived as sustainable," said Melissa Abbott, trends and culinary insights manager of the Hartman Group.
But she also advised wineries against adding too much information on labeling at the expense of information that might help convince someone to buy a wine.
Certification of environmentally safe practices by a winery from an independent third party like Salmon-Safe can help sales, said Dan Kent, managing director of Portland-based Salmon-Safe.
Salmon-Safe has certified more than 200 wineries across the Northwest, including about half of the wineries in Walla Walla, as committed to protecting water quality and wild salmon in their watersheds, he said.
The group, which also extends its certification to other entities such as farms and dairies, corporate campuses and large residential developments, has produced a wallet card listing Salmon-Safe certified wineries in Oregon and Washington, Kent said.
"The wine industry is on the cutting edge in the agricultural sector ... in proactively promoting environmentally friendly practices," said Aaron Lange, vineyard manager of Langetwins Winery & Vineyard in Acampo, Calif.
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