WA wine pioneer Bookwalter dies. He helped make the state the 2nd largest U.S. producer
Jerrold “Jerry” Bookwalter, the Washington wine pioneer who founded the Tri-Cities winery that bears his name, died Aug. 21 in West Richland.
He was 83.
Bookwalter, was born in Modesto, Calif., to Robert and Lural Bookwalter, peach farmers whose agricultural roots went back seven generations.
At the University of California-Davis, he went through several majors before landing on agriculture economics and pomology.
He worked in the fruit and nut industry in California before moving to the Tri-Cities in 1976 to manage Sagemoor Farms and gain experience planting some of the region’s most iconic vineyards.
In 1982, he and his wife Jean established Bookwalter Winery in Pasco. It would remain there until its 1993 move to south Richland.
Their son John took over leadership in 1997 and altered the name to J. Bookwalter.
Today, it’s a winery with two full-service restaurants, Fiction, at the winery, and Fable, a casual restaurant that opened earlier this year in the former home to R.F. McDougall’s near the Richland Wye.
Einan’s at Sunset is handling his arrangements.
This story was originally published August 22, 2023 at 6:09 PM.