Wine Industry Celebrates LAEP Graduates

Washington’s wine industry got together recently to celebrate the nearly 50 graduates from Level Two of their Latino Ag Education Program, or LAEP.

Patrick Rawn, one of the owners at Two Mountain Wineries, said the program is about increasing knowledge.

“It’s designed to educate field workers and our vineyard crew staff on some of the ins and outs from a viticulture perspective how we do what we do and why we do what we do and help understand vineyard management and farm management from a broader context more than just ‘we prune like this because we prune like this.’”

The program has three levels with level one offering some of the more basic ideas and then getting progressively more in-depth in the science of wine grapes and wine making.

Rawn said it’s easy to say yes to this program.

“We get better quality work, we get higher quality wine grapes to come out of it resulting in higher quality wines and a more efficient farm. The benefits are countless.”

The program also offers a women-only option for people who might not feel comfortable in a mixed gender setting.

Registration for this year’s LAEP program will open later this summer.

If you have a story idea for the Washington Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail krounce@cherrycreekradio.com.