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Coyote Canyon Vineyard in the Horse Heaven Hills AVA near Prosser sold approximately 300 tons of surplus grapes to wineries in the Okanagan Valley, which suffered a devastating freeze in January 2024.
Coyote Canyon Vineyard in the Horse Heaven Hills AVA near Prosser provided approximately 300 tons, according to Jeff Andrews, who owns Coyote with his wife, Jani, and father, Mike.
Today, the vineyard has nearly 30 varieties, so B. C. wineries had their choice, including pinot grigio, sauvignon blanc and cabernet sauvignon, among many others. All fruit sold was certified sustainable under Sustainable WA and Salmon-Safe certified, Andrews said.
Coyote Canyon worked with a dozen B. C. wineries, including Kubek’ s Lightning Rock.
Kubek and his wife Tracy were making trips to Washington vineyards even before the exemption was put in place. Andrews and his team helped Kubek source and transport the grapes himself, he said. And there were plenty of other vineyards in the state offering a hand in getting grapes to B. C.
“ They couldn’ t be nicer,” Kubek said.“ These guys were just wonderful.”
The program not only helped the Okanagan wineries but Washington vineyards experiencing a surplus of grapes due to declining wine sales in the state as well as worldwide.
In 2023, one of Washington’ s largest wineries, Ste. Michelle Wine Estates announced the intention to cut their grape buying contracts by 40 % over the next five years, affecting a number of local vineyards. The move created a challenge for grape producers, Higgins said. That’ s partly why the agreement was a great opportunity— it provided relief, if only temporary, to vineyards.
“ Agriculture is a substantial part of our business community. Agriculture is often overlooked.”
— Sara Higgins, Winegrowers Association executive director.
Wine sales had been declining for a number of years, Higgins said. Factors include less disposable income, new health guidelines for alcohol, and alternative beverages, such as ready-to-drink cocktails.
In Washington, some vineyard owners have removed vines and reduced their acreage, Higgins said. Others have been“ idling” their vineyards, a term used lately to describe a process of minimally maintaining a vineyard.
If B. C. wineries hadn’ t bought some of their grapes, Andrews said Coyote Canyon would have worked hard to find other customers in the U. S.
And if that didn’ t work out,“ They would have ended up going on the ground at the end of the season,” he said.
The Washington State Department of Agriculture also supported the agreement, bringing together federal agencies, the Winegrowers Association, Canadian partners and industry representatives to align requirements and allow Washington winegrapes to move across the border, said Robert Newell, a program manager with WSDA’ s fruit and vegetable inspection program.
“ The agreement provided Washington growers an additional market during a year when large volumes of winegrapes needed to be sold,
52 association of washington business