Hogue Cellars It's Celebrates 25th Anniversary
This Year
Milestone is Testament
to Hogue Cellars, Commitment to Quality
Winemaking and Leadership in Washington's
Wine Industry
PROSSER,
Wash. (April 4, 2007), The
Hogue Cellars (www.hoguecellars.com),
one of Washington's most popular and critically
acclaimed wineries, will celebrate its
25th anniversary this year. Founded by
Mike and Gary Hogue in 1982, The
Hogue Cellars is in the heart
of Washington State's wine country located
in Yakima Valley, one of the state's premier
grape-growing appellations. Centrally
located in Prosser, Wash., the winery
is a state-of-the-art facility that sources
the highest quality fruit from Columbia
Valley's best appellations including Yakima
Valley, Horse Heaven Hills, Wahluke Slope
and Red Mountain.
In
celebration of its 25th anniversary, Hogue
Cellars will kick off this year's
festivities by participating in the upcoming
Wine Yakima Valley 2007 Spring Barrel
Tasting weekend, April 27, 29. Additionally,
Gary Hogue will be visiting various cities
across the country and sampling upcoming
releases as well as hosting a celebratory
event at the winery later this year. Anniversary
celebration details can be found on the
Hogue website (www.hoguecellars.com)
in the coming weeks and months.
"We are very
proud to be part of the Washington Wine
Industry's tremendous success. When we
started our winery, we were the 19th bonded
winery in Washington and today there are
over 450 wineries, which is incredible,"
said Gary Hogue. "I remember when
we started; our goal was to sell 20,000
cases of wine by our 10th year in business.
Well, we grew way beyond expectations,
which is testament to the high quality
wines from one of the world's premier
wine growing regions, the Columbia Valley."
History
The Hogue's first planted wine grapes
in 1974. After several years of growing
Riesling fruit for other wineries, Gary
and Mike decided to open The Hogue Cellars
in 1982, leading to their first vintage
of 2,000 cases of Chenin Blanc and Riesling.
Today, Hogue Cellars produces more than
500,000 cases of award-wining wines, featuring
a range of 11 varietals between its three
lines, Hogue, Genesis by Hogue Cellars
and Hogue Reserve.
Farming has been
a way of life for the Hogue family for
more than 60 years. They have grown grapes,
apples, hops, mint and other crops in
eastern Washington's Columbia Valley.
The family continues to produce specialty
apples and hops, in addition to Concord
and vinifera wine grapes.
Winemaking
& Innovation
From the beginning, Hogue Cellars has
led the Washington State wine industry
with the best winemaking and viticultural
talent and has fostered longstanding partnerships
with some of the best growers in Washington's
leading appellations. Hogue Cellars prides
itself on consistent innovation and smart
use of technology to track vineyard conditions
and make winemaking decisions year-to-year
so that it can maintain consistently high
quality wines. Additionally, Hogue Cellars
is committed to ongoing research and development
to aid in making decisions regarding winemaking,
production and quality.
In 2003, Hogue Cellars
released the results of a three-year,
in-house screw cap study that examined
the effect of five different closures
on its wines, and found that screw cap
closures hold fruit and maintain freshness
more effectively than natural or synthetic
corks. Hogue Cellars was the first large,
premium winery to scientifically analyze
the effects of various bottle closures
and then share its results with the industry.
As a result, the winery moved its Hogue
products, which represent 70 percent of
production, to a screw cap closure. The
winery continues to research the process
of aging red wines, and how screw cap
closures affect that process.
The
Region
Washington State is ranked among the world's
top growing regions, and is the second-largest
premium wine producer in the United States.
The climate, northern latitude and soil
combine to provide a world-class growing
area for vines that produce grapes of
consistent quality, resulting in strong
vintages year after year. The State's
wines are rich, flavorful and well balanced.
"Washington
State is one of the greatest wine growing
regions in the world," said Co Dinn,
director of winemaking. "This region
allows us at Hogue Cellars to create wines
that are balanced and not overly alcoholic,
with a real brightness and very well-defined
fruit character which are pleasurable
to drink. This is a unique quality which
consumers are really embracing."
The
Wines
Hogue:
The Hogue Cellars is well known for producing
reliable value wines that showcase the
fresh, high quality fruit from Washington's
Columbia Valley. Hogue wines consistently
emphasize well-balanced, vivid fruit flavors
that are meant to be enjoyed one to three
years after bottling. The suggested retail
price is $8.99.
Genesis
by Hogue Cellars:
Genesis is the original vineyard planted
by Mike Hogue in 1974, and the Genesis
wines are meant to celebrate Hogue Cellars?
history in Washington State. Genesis by
Hogue Cellars wines represents the finest
crafted expression of Columbia Valley
fruit. The winemaking team searches out
those vineyards and microclimates that
have the best potential to produce varietal
wines in a definitive Washington style.
The suggested retail price is $15.99.
Hogue Reserve:
Hogue Reserve wines showcase the highest
quality fruit from first-rate vineyards
in Washington's Columbia Valley. Extended
aging, primarily in new French oak barrels,
adds layers of complexity and intensity
that further differentiate the Reserve
wines. These small production wines include
a Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.
The suggested retail price ranges from
$22 - $30.
Hogue
Cellars is distributed by Pacific
Wine Partners, a Constellation Wines U.S.
company and a leading producer of premium
California wines and importer of wines
from Australia and New Zealand. Constellation
Wines U.S. is part of Constellation Wines,
the world's largest wine business, which
is an operating division of Constellation
Brands, Inc. (NYSE: STZ and STZ.B). Constellation
Wines U.S. encompasses four U.S. wine
businesses: Icon Estates, Centerra Wine
Company, Pacific Wine Partners, and North
Lake Wines. Pacific Wine Partners produces
several top California brands including
Blackstone, Rex Goliath, Night Harvest
by R.H. Phillips, Black Box, Twin Fin,
Hayman and Hill, and Hogue from Washington
State, and is the U.S. importer for Banrock
Station, Hardys, Leasingham, Barossa Valley
Estate, and Chateau Reynella from Australia,
Nobilo from New Zealand, Kumala from South
Africa, Duo from Chile, and Red Guitar
from Spain.
Hogue
Milestones:
1941
Wayne and Shyla Hogue marry and settle
in eastern Washington.
1942
The Hogue's first son, Gary, is born;
brother Mike is born in 1944.
1944
Wayne begins hop farming and is hired
to oversee two large hop farms in the
Yakima Valley, known as "hop heaven."
1948
Wayne and Shyla scrape together enough
money and exercise an option to buy 80
acres of hops after Wayne's employer dies.
Over the years, the Hogues expand their
acreage and plant other crops.
1964
Gary pursues a career in construction
materials in the Seattle area; Mike officially
joins his father on the farm, eventually
managing the ranch and what will grow
to be 1,700 acres of hops, apples, Concord
grapes, asparagus, mint and other crops.
1974
Mike plants his first wine grapes, six
acres of Riesling, in the Yakima Valley,
certain that the hard work will pay off
in wine quality equal to California and
Europe. The grapes are sold to other wineries.
1981
Mike and friend Andy Markin decide to
try home winemaking. Andy and Mike make
the first batch of Riesling in Mike's
daughters? playhouse. The wine is pretty
darn good.
1982
Hogue Cellars is started. Mike tells Gary
that "they" are starting a winery,
and that Gary's sales expertise is needed.
Gary joins Mike at the Prosser Wine &
Food Fair, and with Shyla using a shoebox
as a cash register; the family sells $800
worth of wine.
1983
-- A vacant building in Prosser
is converted into The Hogue Cellars winery
and tasting room.
-- The family enters wines in the 1983
Tri-Cities Wine Competition and wins the
Winemaker's Award for its Chenin Blanc
and the Consumer's Award for its Riesling.
A few weeks later, the Seattle Enological
Society gives Hogue two more gold medals.
1984
-- Hogue's 1983 Fume Blanc places second
in a blind tasting of 52 wines at a Kapalua,
Hawaii wine symposium.
-- Sales climb from 2,000 cases in 1982
to 5,000 in 1983 to 10,000 in 1984.
-- David Forsyth, an Ellensburg, Washington
native and UC Davis graduate, leaves Napa's
Vose Winery and joins Hogue winemaker
Rob Griffin's staff.
1985
Hogue's 1983 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon
wins Best of Show at the Atlanta Wine
Festival, 1700 wines were submitted for
judging.
1988
David Forsyth is promoted to chief winemaker;
later he becomes Director of Winemaking.
1991
Widely respected viticulturist Wade Wolfe
joins Hogue Cellars.
1994
Wine & Spirits magazine selects Hogue
as one of its Wineries of the Year.
1996
-- A $1 million expansion is completed
at the winery, boosting Hogue's production
capacity to 405,000 cases.
-- Dan Berger of the Los Angeles Times
selects Forsyth as Winemaker of the Year.
1997
Hogue redesigns its wine package and introduces
the Hogue Genesis brand to showcase new
grape varieties, distinctive vineyard
sites, and innovative winemaking techniques.
1998
Wine & Spirits magazine again selects
Hogue as one of its Wineries of the Year.
1999
Mike and Gary Hogue are chosen as the
first Vintner Chairpersons for the Auction
of Northwest Wines.
2001
Hogue Cellars is purchased by Vincor,
Intl. in Toronto, Canada. Sales and marketing
efforts are combined with Vencor's second
U.S. winery, R.H. Phillips.
2003
-- Food & Wine names the 1999 Genesis
Merlot Best American Merlot Under $20.
-- Hogue Cellars honors its long-time
employees who have served the winery for
a combined 147 years and have expanded
the winery's leadership in the international
wine industry.
-Wine & Spirits names Hogue one of
its "Value Brands of the Year"
for the Hogue 2004 Merlot.
2006
Constellation Brands, Inc. purchases Vincor
International in June.
2007
Co Dinn is promoted to director of winemaking.
www.hoguecellars.com
