Skagit Beverages

The Skagit Valley Wine Association was established in January of 2007 as a non-profit corporation to promote the growing wine industry in Skagit County. The Skagit Valley is known for excellent award winning wines, produced from fruits, apples and grape varietals. The growth of the wine industry in Skagit County has surprised many and is considered... a quietly emerging premier wine destination. The Skagit River now hosts seven wineries along its banks established from Rockport to Conway. "These are not wineries looking to be the next Chateau Ste. Michelle," says Executive Director of the Skagit Valley Wine Association Thomas Boucher. "These are family-owned wineries where people love grapes and fruit, love to make high quality wine and want to share them with the community." The Skagit Valley is a unique wine region, capitalizing on the rich agricultural fruit products grown locally, access to premium Washington vineyards, and varietals grown in near perfect conditions in the valley. The Skagit Valley is an ideal growing location for a number of Germanic grape varietals like Siegerrebe, and Agria, as well as popular red wines such as Pinot Noir. The Skagit Valley has a similar climate and growing conditions as some of the popular European wine growing regions. The Washington State University Mount Vernon Northwest Washington Research and Extension Center has been a leading research advocate for grape trials in the Skagit Valley. Gary Moulton has spent the last 16 years experimenting and testing grapes that will grow well in the Northwest climate. Pinot Noir has shown great promise through research trials and is now in production in many vineyards. Other Germanic varietals such as Siegerrebe, Agria, Gewurztraminer and Riesling are in production and have been released by several of the wineries. The Skagit Valley has between 20 and 30 grape producers, as well as 5 wineries with vineyards, and that number is expected to grow considerably in the coming years. We are very excited about the growth and popularity of ...Read More