Wineries of Skagit Valley unite
Starting small, the new Skagit Valley Wine Association hopes to grow into a tourism force

By Rachel Robertson


Ector Deleon shows off immature Pinot Noir grapes, which will be picked later this year in the first full harvest at Tulip Valley Vineyard and Orchard.

Although Washington is the No. 2 producer of premium wines in the country, it is still a little known fact that the Skagit Valley has a burgeoning wine industry.

Thomas Boucher, executive director of the newly formed Skagit Valley Wine Association said, “These wineries are making these wonderful wines, have these beautiful tasting rooms – and so many people still don’t know that we actually have wineries in Skagit County.”
Perhaps it is because they are overshadowed by bigger producers on the eastern side of the mountains – indeed, more than 90 percent of Washington wine grapes are grown there, where a longer growing season and warmer summers are perfect conditions for such popular wine varietals as Chardonnay, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Riesling.
However, according to Gary Moulton of Washington State University (WSU), the cooler marine climate of Western Washington offers some great possibilities for wines that are “very different than Eastern Washington [wines] but very unique.” Siegerrebe, Agria, Madeleine Angevine, and Pinot Noir are some varietals that Skagit wineries are crafting into wines from their estate-grown grapes.
Moulton has spent the last 16 years researching conditions and testing grapes at WSU’s Mount Vernon Northwest Washington Research and Extension Center, following on the heels of his predecessor, Bob Norton, who started identifying potential grape varieties as early as the 1970s. The years of research are finally coming to fruition as more and more people are realizing the rewards of wine grape growing.
Jim Perkins was one such convert. A long-time apple grower, Perkins was looking to diversify at a time when the apple market was depressed. He said, “We started looking around to see what was making money in agriculture and wine grapes were doing pretty well.”
Initially selling to other local wineries he was eventually frustrated by not having control over the final product, so in 2004 Perkins took it a step further and opened Eagle Haven Winery right across the driveway from his established apple store, the Apple Shed. “I said, ‘Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to take it all the way to the end – do a winery as well, and hopefully the winery will help the apple store and the apple store will help the winery,’” he said. “And it’s worked out quite well that way.”
In Skagit Valley, where there is an abundance of local fruit, many of the wineries produce other fruit wines. For example, Samish Island Winery produces berry wines exclusively. For Perkins, apple wine was an obvious choice, but he produces a variety of other fruit wines such as a unique black currant wine. Pasek Cellars, the longest established winery in Skagit County, specializes in fruit wines, although – along with nearly all the other area wineries – also makes wines from grapes grown in Eastern Washington. Tulip Valley Vineyard and Orchard grows their own estate apples from which they make hard apple ciders but they also make grape wines, and this year will have their first full harvest of Pinot Noir.

Banding together
“It’s a lot better if we can come together as one voice instead of being splintered and fractured,” said Perkins of the newly formed Skagit Valley Wine Association. “And working as a team instead of working as individuals we seem to get more done.”
Although the association held its first official meeting in February of this year, it was an idea the wineries had been discussing for a couple years, and last fall they recruited Thomas Boucher, sales manager for Carpenter Creek Winery in Mount Vernon, to become the executive director.
Since then, they have certainly been getting things done – their initial goals of establishing a Web site and creating a wine route map are accomplished, and they have already hosted three wine tastings (the Tulip Frolic in LaConner, Wine and Tulips at Tulip Valley Vineyard and Orchard, and the EDASC 20th Annual Golf Tournament & WineFest in Burlington). Currently, they are preparing for their biggest event so far at the Skagit County Fair this month, Aug. 8-11.
“It’s a great way to reach so many people ... showing everybody that we have these local wineries and this local industry – it’s really going to be a big step for us,” said Boucher.
As the featured agricultural industry for the fair, the association will provide an educational booth about the local wine industry. “From Vine to Wine” is the theme, detailing the processes of growing, and harvesting the fruit all the way through making the wine. Fairgoers will be able to taste the final products at a wine garden.
Beyond co-marketing, there has turned out to be other benefits of forming an association.
“The comradeship between the wineries is a value as well ... maybe we can come together and order bottles or corks or something as a bigger entity ... if someone needs a piece of equipment or their equipment goes down on them, we share,” explained Perkins.
Boucher concurred, “It’s really exciting to see the industry itself coming together and really bonding and forming a relationship that’s not necessarily a confrontational or competitive one.”

Starting small with plans for growth
“We purposely decided to start small,” said Boucher. “We purposely did that to lay out the framework and the structure before we got a lot more diversity involved in the association.”
Heeding the advice of other associations who warned them that bringing in lots of people early on could hamper their future growth, the association currently includes just six wineries of Skagit County.
Boucher said that trying to formally organize the grape growers and inviting them into the association would be the next step. Then in the fall and winter the association plans to begin recruiting other industry leaders such retailers, nonprofits and educators. “Getting together the industry insiders is extremely important to continue putting the pieces together for the association,” he said.
Expanding in area is also a possibility, and Boucher expects that wineries in Whatcom County, north Snohomish County and the San Juan Islands may have interest in joining.
As a way to bring in individuals who are not associated with the wine industry, the association has started a volunteer program called Skagit Wine Ambassadors. Members are educated on the local wine industry and help with events, such as pouring the wine at wine tastings. “In a way they become our cheerleaders and then that helps us out because we can do more events and get out to more places if we have people that will participate in that. So, that’s really exciting,” Boucher said.

The bigger picture
What these small, mostly boutique wineries hope to create in Skagit Valley is a wine destination area, where visitors will come to spend a day or a few days touring the wineries and visiting other local businesses.
Boucher hopes that the wineries will lead people to discover the many other tourism activities available in Skagit Valley and benefit other local businesses as well.
“I think that is extremely important, especially in some place like Skagit County, just because it is so gorgeous and there is so much to do here and we need more things than just the Tulip Festival to bring people here on a regular basis,” he said.
“I think the wineries and the wine industry, and the grape vines out in he fields, will really create a lot of interest for people to come up to Skagit County and enjoy all the things that we have to offer.”

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Thomas Boucher, executive director of the Skagit Valley Wine Association, got his start in wine as the sales manager for Carpenter Creek Winery in Mount Vernon where he is pictured here.