Teodulo Jimenez supervises the skilled crews at Inland Desert Nursery. The strength of Washington State’s wine industry is due in part to what isn’t often seen or appreciated—the roots of clean planting material that so far have kept the state’s vineyards free of devastating pests like phylloxera or widespread diseases. The late Dr. Walter Clore, a Washington State University horticulturist who pioneered vinifera wine grape growing in the state, had the foresight to establish a grapevine foundation block at WSU’s Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center in Prosser in 1961. He recognized the importance of testing selections from other areas […]