Washington’s wine grape growers have begun harvesting a crop they expect to set a third straight volume record, catching absolutely nobody off guard.

“This is not a surprise for us,” said Vicky Scharlau, executive director of the Washington Association of Wine Grape Growers.

The state’s $8.6 billion industry has not only braced for, but in fact orchestrated, a forecasted 230,000-ton vintage through expanded acreage to feed growing demand. In the past 20 years, new wineries have opened at a rate of 40 per year.

Growers intend to keep planting.

“We’re still continuing to expand and write contracts for more grapes,” said Kevin Corliss, vice president of vineyards for Ste. Michelle Wine Estates, the largest wine company in Washington.

As Ste. Michelle goes, so goes the industry. The Woodinville-based company, with mammoth facilities at Columbia Crest in the Horse Heaven Hills, crushes about three of every five Washington grapes, Corliss said. Of the state’s 13 federally recognized growing regions, called American Viticultural Areas, five have acreage in the Yakima Valley.