(Wines&Vines) - Washington’s vineyard acreage has grown five-fold in the past 20 years. In 2016 the state harvested its biggest crop ever from more than 56,000 acres, up from just 11,000 acres in 1996. And those are just the bearing acres—hundreds more acres are under development, putting pressure on nurseries to deliver plant material that will measure up.

A critical element in the health of those vines has been the foundation block that pioneering Washington State University viticulturist Walter Clore established at the WSU Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center in Prosser in 1961.