The Wine Knows

A Gig Harbor, Wash., group has won a bid for a 404-acre lease on Red Mountain. It plans to build a Tuscan-style complex with room for 12 wineries and a couple dozen guest rooms.

Vintage Partners, led by Doug Long of Gig Harbor, was awarded a 55-year lease by the Department of Natural Resources, which owns the land.

Most importantly, the land comes with water, thanks to a well drilled by the Kennewick Irrigation District.

Red Mountain is Washington's smallest American Viticultural Area at just over 4,000 acres. With major upgrades to such wineries as Terra Blanca and Kiona and the arrival of Col Solare - along with several other new and established boutique and large producers - this is another feather for a region already blessed with superb wine grape-growing conditions and reputation.

Read more about this development.