Washinton Leases 404 Acres on Red Mountain

State agrees to lease 404 acres on Red Mountain for wine complex

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

BENTON CITY, Wash. -- State officials have agreed to lease 404 acres of state land in southcentral Washington to a wine grower and two partners from Gig Harbor for a winery complex.

The state Department of Natural Resources previously leased about 140 acres to four wineries on Red Mountain, a 4,040-acre federally recognized grape-growing region known for red wines.

The lease to Vintage Partners announced Monday is for a vineyard and winemaking complex where about a dozen small wineries will share crushing facilities while maintaining independent barrel and tasting rooms, said Duane W. Unland, regional business development manager for the state agency.

The 55-year lease, which was set to be signed Tuesday in Olympia, is worth about $500,000 a year for the state school trust fund.

The three principals in Vintage Partners are Dick Shaw, whose vineyards on the Wahluke Slope in Mattawa produce grapes under contract to Ste. Michelle Wine Estates and other producers, Doug Long of Gig Harbor, and Paul Kaltinick, a certified public accountant in Gig Harbor and former chief financial officer for J.C. Penney.

Project costs, including construction of a two-story Italian-style piazza covering 75,000 square feet with guest rooms on the second floor, will run about $50 million, Long told the Tri-City Herald.