Since 2010, wine-grape acreage in Washington has increased by 22 percent, according to state figures, to about 50,000 acres. At the same time, acreage for many other historically important crops — from potatoes to wheat — has been flat or in decline.

The money has followed that trend: E. & J. Gallo, a giant wine company based in Modesto, Calif., made its first foray into Washington in 2012, when it bought its first winery outside California. Growers and wineries have also set up shop in places like Horse Heaven Hills, a high ridge on the north bank on the Columbia River, carving out a geographic designation that is fetching premium prices for its cabernet sauvignons. Walla Walla, once a sleepy town in Washington’s wheat belt, has become a tourist watering hole for sippers of syrah.

Certainly, no one is writing California wine’s epitaph. Wine-grape growers there harvested a record crop last year, and winery owners said the quality of the grapes, perhaps partly because of drought stress, could produce memorable, high-cost vintages. Washington, by contrast, is still a relative upstart, which also means that its grape-growing lands are cheaper.

“Napa, while it is certainly world renowned, is a victim of its own success in the price of land and the price of grapes,” said Carol C. Reber, the chief marketing officer at Duckhorn Wine Company, based in St. Helena, Calif. Duckhorn bought its first 20 acres in Washington in 2013, and last summer planted its first vines, mostly cabernet and a little merlot. The company produced its first Washington wine last fall, a cabernet sauvignon, with grapes purchased from other growers. Ms. Reber said the company would consider buying more land in Washington “if opportunity comes along.”