Washington produces record wine grapes crop in 2016

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — The state of Washington produced a record harvest of wine grapes in 2016.

The Washington Wine Commission reported Wednesday that the 2016 harvest was 270,000 tons, up 22 percent from the previous year.

Tonnage in 2015 was down a little compared to the previous record harvest of 227,000 tons in 2014.

Red varieties produced more tons than white, totaling 58 percent of the harvest. Cabernet Sauvignon was the state's top variety at 71,100 tons, or 26 percent of the total

Washington is one of the nation's top producers of premium wines, and most of the grapes are grown east of the Cascade Range.