William Pollard Jr | aka: Wild 4 Washington Wine

On impulse last week, I bought a small grape vine. A seedless Suffolk red table grape, not wine grape this time. Now that it's planted, what do I do next? After some Internet searching, I found a great resource for growing grapes yourself. The Oregon State University Extension site has much of the information needed to grow grapes at home. Topics include: Grape plant growth, Selecting a site, Soil, Selecting a cultivar, Planting stock and propagation, Establishing your planting, Care of established plantings, Pruning and training, Harvest and dealing with Pests. The included diagrams are a huge help in explaining how to properly train and prune your vines. Check it out. Link to web page  - This information is also available as a .PDF file:  Link to PDF file . If you have planted, or are thinking about planting grapes at home, then check out this resource. Cheers!

Growers conference in February introduced many to the Columbia Valley. I finally have some time to post to this blog, so lets catch up. Last month the annual Washington Association of Wine Grape Growers Meeting was held in Kennewick, Washington. Growers and winemakers from the U.S. and Canada attended. And local growers and winemakers presented. I personally had some time to visit with four growers from the NAPA Valley. They appeard a bit dazed and overwhelmed when I met with them after the conference. They had questions about the Columbia Valley, climate, soil and appellations. They did not believe everything I told them and they seemed doubtful about the whole Washington state wine phenomena. But, as they say, the truth is in the tasting. They were politely interested in white wines, but unimpressed. They were very interested in red wines and were blown away by a 2004 Barnard Griffin Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. I swear their eyes popped open at the same time - looks were exchange...