David Blair of Dunham Cellars
Teri Treat introduced our presenter, our own David Blair, suggesting that David was promoting the idea of including wine with lunch every week, thereby improving both recruitment and retention.
Having warmed up his audience with samples of wine-club-only selections of a red and a (never-before-produced) Cabernet Franc rose, Dave launched into a fact-filled presentation about the wine industry in Washington, with a healthy inclusion of the history and accomplishments of the Dunham Cellars brand (of which he is the owner and managing partner) located in Walla Walla.
The United States first made a name for itself in the world of wine in the 1860s, when an aphid related insect known as Grape phylloxera was transported to England by an avid and unsuspecting botanist who brought some vines there from the U.S. This insect in short order devastated most of the British and European wine grape vineyards because it was unknown there and the vines had no defenses. A solution to this problem was developed by grafting European vines onto American root stock, which was resistant.
Many California vineyards were replanted in the same manner in the 1980s. Washington, however, was unaffected as the cold weather in the winter controls the pest.
Somewhat surprisingly, world production of wine is declining, primarily because of reductions in volumes from France, Italy, and Spain. U.S. production is growing, but is substantially less than either France or Italy.
The US ranks 53rd in the world for per capita wine consumption, but is the largest total consumer. Interestingly, Vatican City is rated the largest per capita consumer in the world. California is the largest wine producer in the US, and Washington is the (distant) second-largest despite its relative youth. There are 13 American Viticultural Areas ("AVAs") in Washington state, the first designated in 1983 (Yakima Valley) and the next two in 1984 (Columbia and Walla Walla Valleys). The most recently designated AVA is “Ancient Lakes,” established in 2012.
Chateau Ste Michelle is by far the largest producer in Washington (over 6 million cases annually), with the second largest (Precept Wines) coming in at 1/10 of that amount. Dunham is about 25th at 28,000 cases. Fully half of Washington’s 900 wineries produce less than 1,000 cases per year. All of Washington benefits from Ste. Michelle’s dominant position, as it provides the support necessary to develop a full infrastructure for wine development and production that could not be supported by smaller scale producers alone. Overall, Washington State is in the “sweet spot” geologically for growth of fine wine grapes.
Dave presented some very interesting photos of the history of Dunham Cellars, and some discussion of the wine-making process, equipment, facilities, vineyards, philosophy, and events.
Due to the lateness of the hour, Dave finished his presentation and offered to take questions at the wine table in the back of the room. A very informative and interesting presentation. A votre santé!
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