Wine grape harvest last year down 16 percent from 2016

SPOKANE, Wash.  — The wine grape harvest in Washington state last year totaled 227,000 tons, down 16 percent from 2016.

Washington State Wine's annual Grape Crush Report showed that the 2017 harvest was slightly larger than the 2015 harvest.

Cabernet Sauvignon was the top producing variety at 62,200 tons, or 27 percent of the total. Chardonnay was at 39,300 tons, or 17 percent of the total. Riesling (33,000 tons), Merlot (32,700 tons) and Syrah (20,800 tons) rounded out the top five. Red varieties accounted for 57 percent of the total production.

Grape growers received an average of $1,198 per ton in 2017, which was an increase of $41 over the previous year.

Washington is second to California in the production of premium wines, and has more than 940 wineries.