(Wines&Vines) - With the first grapes of the 2017 vintage starting to come off the vines in the Northwest, the number of wineries in the region continues to grow albeit at a slower pace than previous years.

Released today, a census of the Oregon wine industry by the Southern Oregon University Research Center (SOURCE) for the Oregon Wine Board reports a total of 725 wineries in 2016, up 3% from 2015. Wineries crushing grapes increased more than 1% to 424. Vineyard acreage kept pace, too, rising 9% to 30,435 acres, with Pinot Noir continuing to lead the way in terms of absolute acreage added (2,019 acres, up 12% from 2015) while Chardonnay was next in line with a gain of 251 acres (or 16% growth versus 2015). Wines Vines Analytics winery database has 724 wineries in the state.