1996 OREGON WINERY REPORT

APRIL 30, 1997
Frequency: Annual

Grapes crushed, wine sold and inventory continued to increase

94 Oregon wineries crushed 15,191 tons of grapes from the 

1996 vintage, 6 percent more than in 1995.



Wineries in the state increased by 6 to 105.



Custom crush accounted for 5 percent of the total.



Crush was 35 percent estate grown, 62 percent  

grown by other Oregon vineyards.



Varietal wines were 94 percent of the total crush, sparkling wines were

made from 4.6 percent of total crush, and proprietary or generic wines

amounted to 1.7 percent.



Most important varieties were:  Pinot Noir, 6,403 tons crushed, 

13 percent more than last year; Chardonnay, 3,429 tons,

up 18 percent; Pinot Gris, 1,795 tons, up 26 percent; and

White Riesling, 1,537 tons, down 5 percent. 



Yamhill remains the leading county, with 29 wineries crushing 

31 percent of state's grapes.



Cooperage capacity also increased to 4.04 million gallons, 

up 12 percent from the prior year.



Inventory at Oregon wineries on January 1, 1997 was up 

18 percent from a year earlier to 855,431 cases.



Oregon wineries sold 741,953 cases of grape wines during  1996, 

just 1 percent more than in 1995.

Inventory includes both bottled case goods and gallons of bulk storage

converted to case equivalents. The figures include bonded

and tax-paid inventory, regardless of location, owned by wineries.

Grape wines from the 1995 vintage plus fruit and berry wines made

in 1995 were the most recent included, and account for 64 percent

of total inventory. Sales include only grape wines.



Wineries reported unfilled grape crushing needs of 1,365 

tons in 1996. Reported needs were: Pinot Noir, 475 tons;  White Riesling,

207 tons; Merlot, 194 tons; Pinot Gris, 180 tons;

Chardonnay, 112 tons; Pinot Blanc, 65 tons; Cabernet Sauvignon, 54 tons;

Sauvignon Blanc, 40 tons; Gewurztraminer, 10 tons; 

Zinfandel, 10 tons; Semillion, 9 tons; Muller Thurgau, 6 tons; and 

Chenin Blanc, 3 tons.



This report was published by the Oregon Agricultural Statistics 

Service with the cooperation of the Oregon Wine Advisory Board, the

Oregon Winegrowers Association and the Oregon Department of

Agriculture. Funding was provided by the Oregon Wine Advisory

Board.

Oregon wineries: Crush, by type of acquisition and area, 1996 and 1995 totals

Area	Estate grown	Purchased	Custom crush	All crush, 1996	All crush, 1995
	Tons	Tons	Tons	Tons	Tons
Polk Co.	840	863	416	2,119	2,175
Washington Co.1	1,534	519	4	2,057	1,848
Yamhill Co.	1,901	2,759	120	4,780	4,449
East Valley 2	317	1,777	16	2,110	1,643
South Valley3	232	2,318	126	2,676	2,376
Douglas Co.	174	337	85	596	690
Rogue Valley 4	384	436	33	853	1,099
Total, 1996	5,382	9,009	800	15,191	--
Total, 1995	4,867	8,812	601	--	14,280

1 Includes Clatsop and Tillamook counties.
2 Clackamas, Deschutes, Hood River, Linn, Marion, Multnomah, and Umatilla counties.
3 Benton and Lane counties.
4 Jackson and Josephine counties.

Oregon wineries: Crush, by variety and area, 1996 and 1995 totals

Area	Cabernet Sauv- ignon	Char- donnay	Gewurz- traminer	Merlot	Muller Thurgau	Pinot Gris	Pinot Noir	Sauv- ignon Blanc	White Riesling	All others	All varieties
											1996	1995
	Tons	Tons	Tons	Tons	Tons	Tons	Tons	Tons	Tons	Tons	Tons	Tons
Polk Co.	68	550	44	22	41	117	1,051	15	73	138	2,119	2,175
Wash. Co.1	0	493	46	0	114	260	724	8	349	63	2,057	1,848
Yamhill Co.	32	1,013	57	15	178	580	2,421	28	281	175	4,780	4,449
East Valley2	135	448	52	16	25	171	714	0	498	51	2,110	1,643
South Valley3	79	535	24	12	3	592	1,179	20	177	55	2,676	2,376
Douglas Co.	91	187	18	8	11	1	126	3	37	114	596	690
Rogue Valley4	74	202	44	63	15	74	188	11	122	60	853	1,099
Total, 1996	479	3,428	285	136	387	1,795	6,403	85	1,537	656	15,191	--
Total, 1995	632	2,909	270	386	411	1,430	5,699	151	1,624	768	--	14,280
Oregon wineries: Equivalent wine production, 1995-1996 5
	Cases	Cases	Cases	Cases	Cases	Cases	Cases	Cases	Cases	Cases	Cases	Cases
1996	30,189	216,050	17,962	8,571	24,391	113,130	403,550	5,357	96,870	41,345	957,416	--
1995	39,832	183,340	17,017	24,328	25,903	90,126	359,181	9,517	102,353	48,403	--	900,000

1 Includes Clatsop and Tillamook counties.
2 Clackamas, Deschutes, Hood River, Linn, Marion, Multnomah and Umatilla counties.
3 Benton and Lane counties.
4 Jackson and Josephine counties.
5 Equivalent wine production equals tons crushed times 150 gallons per ton divided by 2.38 cases per gallon.

Oregon wineries: Crush, by origin and variety, 1995-96

	Oregon						Grown in other states		All crush
	Estate grown		Other Oregon grown		All Oregon grown
Variety	1995	1996	1995	1996	1995	1996	1995	1996	1995	1996
	Tons	Tons	Tons	Tons	Tons	Tons	Tons	Tons	Tons	Tons
Cabernet Sauvignon	125	55	441	364	566	419	66	60	632	479
Chardonnay	1,111	1,250	1,738	2,134	2,849	3,384	60	44	2,909	3,428
Chenin Blanc	30	3	42	63	72	66	0	0	72	66
Gewurztraminer	118	101	150	184	268	285	2	0	270	285
Merlot	12	12	188	116	200	128	186	8	386	136
Muller Thurgau	251	146	160	241	411	387	0	0	411	387
Pinot Blanc	39	41	36	59	75	100	0	0	75	100
Pinot Gris	473	733	957	1,036	1,430	1,769	0	26	1,430	1,795
Pinot Noir	1,882	2,355	3,817	3,907	5,699	6,262	0	141	5,699	6,403
Sauvignon Blanc	45	18	106	67	151	85	0	0	151	85
Semillon	6	6	11	6	17	12	0	0	17	12
White Riesling	613	534	1,011	945	1,624	1,479	0	58	1,624	1,537
Zinfandel	6	4	163	115	169	119	0	0	169	119
All others	156	124	218	222	374	346	61	13	435	359
Total	4,867	5,382	9,038	9,459	13,905	14,841	375	350	14,280	15,191

Oregon wineries: Crush, by use, variety and wine type, 1995-96

	Varietal		Sparkling		Proprietary or generic		All Uses
Variety and wine type	1995	1996	1995	1996	1995	1996	1995	1996
	Tons	Tons	Tons	Tons	Tons	Tons	Tons	Tons
Cabernet Sauvignon, red	501	359	0	0	15	42	516	401
Cabernet Sauvignon, blush	116	78	0	0	0	0	116	78
Chardonnay	2,646	3,029	260	311	3	88	2,909	3,428
Chenin Blanc	39	11	0	0	33	55	72	66
Gewurztraminer	265	285	0	0	5	0	270	285
Merlot	386	136	0	0	0	0	386	136
Muller Thurgau	410	384	0	0	1	3	411	387
Pinot Blanc	75	100	0	0	0	0	75	100
Pinot Gris	1,426	1,795	0	0	4	0	1,430	1,795
Pinot Noir, red	5,447	5,901	105	341	8	33	5,560	6,275
Pinot Noir, blush	139	128	0	0	0	0	139	128
Sauvignon Blanc	151	85	0	0	0	0	151	85
Semillon	17	12	0	0	0	0	17	12
White Riesling	1,623	1,486	0	37	1	14	1,624	1,537
Zinfandel	169	119	0	0	0	0	169	119
All Others	409	334	0	0	26	25	435	359
Total	13,819	14,242	365	689	96	260	14,280	15,191

Oregon wineries: Inventory, by vintage, variety and wine type, January 1, 1996-1997 1

	January 1, 1996				January 1, 1997
Variety and wine type	1994 vintage	1993 and earlier vintages	All vintages	Share of total	1995 vintage	1994 and earlier vintages	All vintages	Share of total
	Cases	Cases	Cases	Percent	Cases	Cases	Cases	Percent
Cabernet Sauvignon, red	18,266	19,594	37,860	5 .2	16,951	19,424	36,375	4 .3
Cabernet Sauvignon, blush	2	2	2	2	5,674	660	6,334	0 .8
Chardonnay	118,375	77,393	195,768	27 .0	115,537	80,182	195,719	22 .9
Chenin Blanc	273	775	1,048	0 .1	2	2	2	2
Gewurztraminer	6,816	4,811	11,627	1 .6	11,508	4,322	15,830	1 .9
Merlot	6,699	4,159	10,858	1 .5	8,163	6,446	14,609	1 .7
Muller Thurgau	2,431	1,458	3,889	0 .5	5,997	923	6,920	0 .8
Pinot Blanc	888	138	1,026	0 .1	1,584	1,135	2,719	0 .3
Pinot Gris	16,917	5,224	22,141	3 .1	47,139	5,135	52,274	6 .1
Pinot Noir, red	170,725	111,022	281,747	38 .9	220,666	107,053	327,719	38 .3
Pinot Noir, blush	4,020	4,119	8,139	1 .1	3,009	2,523	5,532	0 .7
Sauvignon Blanc	6,516	3,523	10,039	1 .4	7,537	4,748	12,285	1 .4
White Riesling	36,507	18,916	55,423	7 .7	40,234	21,604	61,838	7 .2
Zinfandel	4,653	0	4,653	0 .7	9,928	809	10,737	1 .3
Other red varietal	1,200	1,823	3,023	0 .4	2,885	1,492	4,377	0 .5
Other white varietal	2,496	3,656	6,152	0 .8	7,049	10,213	17,262	2 .0
Red blends	2,398	2,834	5,232	0 .7	2,760	1,827	4,587	0 .5
White blends	330	1,504	1,834	0 .3	2,751	99	2,850	0 .3
Blush blends	3,430	617	4,047	0 .6	1,512	300	1,812	0 .2
All sparkling wines	28,906	30,828	59,734	8 .3	39,308	36,346	75,654	8 .8
Total	431,846	292,394	724,240	100 .0	550,192	305,241	855,433	100 .0

Oregon wineries: Equivalent inventory, by vintage, January 1,1996-19973

	Gallons	Gallons	Gallons		Gallons	Gallons	Gallons
Equivalent total..........	1,027,793	695,898	1,723,691	----------	1,309,457	726,474	2,035,931	----------

1 Figures in this table include estimates for incomplete responses.
2 Included in other white varietal.
3 Equivalent inventory equals cases times 2.38 gallons per case.

Oregon wineries: Sales, by variety and wine type, 1995-961

	1995		1996
Variety and wine type	Sales	Share of total	Sales	Share of total
	Cases	Percent	Cases	Percent
Still wines:
Cabernet Sauvignon, red	22,435	3 .1	18,934	2 .6
Chardonnay	170,289	23 .2	165,263	22 .3
Gewurztraminer	26,084	3 .5	16,486	2 .2
Muller Thurgau	16,946	2 .3	18,178	2 .4
Pinot Blanc	--	--	17,240	2 .3
Pinot Gris	45,956	6 .3	53,564	7 .2
Pinot Noir, red	233,474	31 .8	248,857	33 .5
Sauvignon Blanc	7,667	1 .0	7,262	1 .0
White Riesling	96,869	13 .2	90,623	12 .2
Other still wine	93,411	12 .7	73,895	10 .0
All sparkling wines	21,306	2 .9	31,651	4 .3
Total	734,437	100 .0	741,953	100 .0

Oregon wineries: Sales, by wine type and destination, 1995-961

	Chardonnay		Pinot Noir, red		White Riesling		All grape wine
Destination	1995	1996	1995	1996	1995	1996	1995	Share of total	1996	Share of total
	Cases	Cases	Cases	Cases	Cases	Cases	Cases	Percent	Cases	Percent
Oregon	116,895	105,578	110,610	104,594	84,255	76,897	486,754	66 .3	428,756	57 .8
Washington	10,980	15,298	19,730	20,434	5,000	4,741	48,823	6 .6	60,653	8 .2
Other States	38,020	41,725	89,954	112,514	6,820	8,014	175,908	24 .0	233,037	31 .4
Exports out of U.S.:	4,394	2,662	13,180	11,315	794	971	22,952	3 .1	19,507	2 .6
Canada	0	0	0	0	0	0	10,699	1 .4	8,497	1 .2
Denmark	0	0	0	0	0	0	1,425	0 .2	832	0 .1
Japan	0	0	0	0	0	0	758	0 .1	949	0 .1
Sweden	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	828	0 .1
United Kingdom	0	0	0	0	0	0	4,913	0 .7	3,101	0 .4
Other & undesignated	0	0	0	0	0	0	5,157	0 .7	5,300	0 .7
Total	170,289	165,263	233,474	248,857	96,869	90,623	734,437	100 .0	741,953	100 .0

1 Figures in this table include estimates for incomplete responses.
2 Included in other and undesignated.

Non-grape wine summary 

During 1996, there were 7 wineries that produced approximately 

28,300 gallons of non-grape wines, not including hard apple cider 

which is taxed as a wine product.  Blackberries, loganberries, and

rhubarb were the leading fruits used for these wines.  

Other fruits used for wines by commercial wineries in 1996 were 

raspberries, cherries, currants, peaches, pears and.  

Some non-grape wines were made from undesignated commodities.  

This summary includes estimates for incomplete responses.




Compiled by:


United States Department of Agriculture

Oregon Agricultural Statistics Service



Homer K. Rowley, State Statistician

Ronald F. Kriesel, Deputy State Statistician

Douglas C. Marousek, Agricultural Statistician



Cooperating with:


Oregon Wine Advisory Board

Oregon Wine Growers Association

Oregon Department of Agriculture





Copies of this publication are available by contacting the 

Oregon Agricultural Statistics Service, 1220 S.W. 3rd Ave., 

Room 1735, Portland, Oregon 97204-2899, 

(326-2131 in Portland or 1-800-338-2157).  

Also available on the internet at

http://www.oda.stat.or.us/oass/oass.html

[Return to Oregon Ag Statistics Home Page]
[Go to National Ag Statistics Service Home Page]
[Go to Oregon Department of Ag Divisions]