Winery starter takes shape Three buildings to house new wineries are near completion on Port of Walla Walla land near the regional airport.
By Vicki Hillhouse of the Union-Bulletin
A cluster of buildings to help establish startup wineries in the Walla Walla Valley has taken shape near the Walla Walla Regional Airport.
By the end of the month, officials say at least two of them will be home to new wineries on Piper Road.
Devin and Debra Stinger plan to open their Adamant Cellars in one building. Another will house Trio Vintners, a winery owned by Denise Slattery and her husband Steve Michener, with partner Tim Boushey, all graduates of Walla Walla Community College's Institute for Enology & Viticulture.
Against a cloudy backdrop Thursday, construction continued on the earth-toned buildings in mocha, olive and a soft brick color, as Port of Walla Walla commissioners and staff toured the buildings. While some
workers focused on construction of a sidewalk and approach to the cluster, others put touches on the insides of each building, all in various stages of progress.
The winery village is funded with the help of a $1 million state grant to the Port of Walla Walla. Each 1,600-square-foot building is constructed specifically for wine production, including a processing room and barrel storage area. Those rooms, along with an office and restroom, branch off the entryway to each building like spokes of a wheel. The largest rooms - for processing and barrel storage - connect through an overhead garage-like door.
The space is designed for bonded wineries that produce about 1,000 cases of wine annually. The buildings have often been referred to as ``incubators'' because tenants will be on a six-year, nonrenewable lease. After that, they must find another location so that new startup wineries can move in. Wineries that are able to finance a move before the six-year period may do so.
Built by Western States Construction of Valleyford, Wash., the winery village was initially expected to include four buildings. But bids submitted by nine contractors late last year were higher than anticipated, and the plan had to be modified.
Port Executive Director Jim Kuntz said with success of the incubator program, the Port would like to add two identical buildings to the cluster.
``It's still our dream to build one here and one there,'' he said Thursday, pointing to vacant sites on either side of the trio of buildings. ``We'd like to have a five-pack.''
But first, Port officials hope to find a tenant for the one remaining building where a winery has not yet been identified.
Startup winery operators interested in applying to use the building can contact the Port of Walla Walla at 525-3100.
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