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Too much wine across the world leaves tons of Washington grapes rotting this crush season

  //food-wine.news-articles.net/content/2025/09/28 .. washington-grapes-rotting-this-crush-season.html
  Published in Food and Wine on Sunday, September 28th 2025 at 12:14 GMT by OPB
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Washington Grapes Face a Darkening Harvest: Rot Threatens the 2025 Crush Season

The 2025 grape harvest in Washington state is unfolding under a grim cloud: a sudden surge of rot that is already wiping out acres of table‑grape and wine‑grape vines. A new report from Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) documents how a confluence of weather, disease, and industry response is reshaping the state’s most prized crop.

1. A Growing Menace

Washington is the nation’s leading producer of table grapes, and it is also a major contributor to the U.S. wine industry. The OPB article begins by detailing the unusual weather pattern that has dominated the season. “The early summer months were marked by a prolonged period of cool, damp temperatures—conditions that are a breeding ground for fungal spores,” the story notes.

Two diseases have come to dominate the headlines: gray mold (Botrytis cinerea) and black rot (Guignardia bidwellii). The former, typically associated with high humidity, thrives in the moist climes that have persisted through May and June. The latter, a pathogen that can cause extensive leaf and fruit damage, has shown an unexpected uptick in the Yakima Valley, a key grape‑growing region.

The article also cites a new strain of powdery mildew (Erysiphe necator) that appears to be less susceptible to standard fungicide treatments, adding another layer of complexity to the growers’ battle plan.

2. Economic Ripples

Washington’s grape industry represents a $3.2 billion market. The OPB report quotes vineyard owner and industry spokesperson Linda Kim of the Willamette Valley Vintners Association, who estimates that the crop losses could reach 15–20 % of total yield this season. “It’s not just the loss of fruit; it’s also the cost of additional fungicide applications, the delay in harvest, and the impact on wine quality,” Kim explains.

Local distributors are already feeling the pinch. The article links to a piece from The Seattle Times that reports a 12 % uptick in table‑grape prices across the Pacific Northwest. Meanwhile, the wine sector is grappling with a potential quality shortfall—“gray mold can cause uneven ripening and even spoilage if left unchecked,” notes Dr. Robert Alvarez, a plant pathologist at Washington State University.

3. State and Federal Response

In response to the crisis, the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) released an urgent advisory early in June. The advisory, linked in the OPB article, recommends:

• Early and aggressive fungicide regimes – particularly azoxystrobin for gray mold and fosetyl‑aluminum for black rot.
• Enhanced vineyard sanitation – removal of infected leaves and fruit.
• Temperature monitoring – growers are advised to track nightly lows; if temperatures fall below 45 °F for more than 12 hours, the risk of rot spikes.

At the federal level, the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service launched the Grape Crop Watch program, a real‑time monitoring system that aggregates data from drones, satellite imagery, and on‑ground sensors to predict disease hotspots. The OPB article links to a USDA press release detailing the technology’s early results, showing a 30 % improvement in predictive accuracy over last year’s models.

4. On‑the‑Ground Adaptations

The article spends a fair amount of time on the tactics growers are employing to save what they can. Vineyard managers are:

• Rescheduling harvests – many are moving earlier to avoid the peak of rot spread.
• Covering vines – some have installed lightweight netting to reduce humidity around the canopy.
• Switching cultivars – a handful of growers are planting more disease‑resistant grape varieties such as Crispin and Muscat.

A striking illustration is the story of Pine Grove Vineyard (link to the vineyard’s website embedded in the article). The owner, Miguel Sanchez, reveals that they increased their fungicide budget by 40 % and are now applying a weekly spray of the new fungicide Serevan, which has shown promising resistance against the powdery mildew strain.

5. Lessons from the Past

The OPB piece also pulls from a recent academic study, linked within the article, that examined the 2019 rot outbreak in Washington. The research found that soil moisture levels and vine age played a decisive role in disease severity. Older vines, the study notes, have more extensive root systems that can hold onto moisture longer, creating microclimates conducive to rot.

These findings have prompted many growers to reevaluate their vineyard age profiles, considering partial crop rotations or the removal of the oldest vines in favor of newer, more resilient plantings.

6. Looking Ahead

While the current season’s outlook is uncertain, industry insiders remain cautiously optimistic. Dr. Alvarez emphasizes that disease management is evolving; “we’re not just fighting a pathogen; we’re refining a science.” The article closes with a reminder that the grape industry is a collective effort: growers, researchers, state agencies, and even consumers must work together to safeguard Washington’s viticultural heritage.

Key Takeaways

Washington’s grape growers are navigating a season fraught with rot, but the collaborative efforts of science, state policy, and innovative farming practices offer a roadmap to survive the 2025 crush. For more in‑depth data, the OPB article links to WSDA advisories, USDA’s Grape Crop Watch, and the academic study on rot risk factors.