Yakima Valley wineries: Few employees, but big business

(YakimaHerald) - The Yakima Valley’s famed wineries attract attention, give farmers options and drive a big chunk of the economy.

However, they are small potatoes when it comes to employment.

“We’ve got all of these smaller businesses and they really are the wine industry,” said Barb Glover, executive director of Wine Yakima Valley. “It’s kind of what gives it romance.”

Columbia Crest in Paterson is by far the state’s largest winery in terms of volume. That goes for employment, too, said industry leaders.

The winery’s parent company, Ste. Michelle Wine Estates, has about 1,000 employees overall throughout the West Coast, but officials declined to share specific counts about their facilities.

The Hogue Cellars in Prosser is the second-largest producing winery in the state but currently has only 42 year-round employees. Many wineries that produce 2,000 to 3,000 cases a year are run by one or two people, employing extra help only on busy weekends.

However, those small operations add up after factoring in all the people who helped make that wine, including vineyard workers, truckers and cellar operators.