Sandpiper Farms creates Water from Wine nonprofit to fund clean water workBy Arielle DreherIn a way, the family behind the local nonprofit Water from Wine is bringing the first miracle of Jesus turning water into a wine into a modern-day context, leveraging the rich wine-growing potential in the vineyard at...

120 students now enrolled in viticulture, enology undergraduate programSeven years ago, Becca DeKleine was the lone College of Agriculture student walking at Washington State University’s Tri-Cities campus commencement.She carried the department’s banner by herself.She and three others graduated together with an emphasis in viticulture and enology in 2011. The others...

Four Feathers Wine Estates processed 15,000 tons of grapes last yearThe winemaking happening inside Four Feathers Wine Estates in Prosser is no small operation.The more than 100 towering silver tanks can store three million gallons within the 50,000-square-foot warehouse and process some 15,000 tons of wine grapes a year.Four Feathers’...

Public plaza, space for food trucks to be completed this summerNow that wine is being made and poured at Kennewick’s waterfront wine village, the community can look forward to the next ribbon cutting, as the second phase is set to get underway this summer.A larger-than-expected crowd gathered for the Feb....

By Andy Perdue and Eric Degerman, Wine News ServiceWhen Rob Griffin arrived in Washington wine country from his native California in early 1977, he never dreamed he’d be most famous for making pink wine.Yet today, the owner/winemaker of Barnard Griffin in Richland may be making the best rosé in America....

The Port of Benton plans to kick-start a new 21-lot development with a $2 million building in Prosser designed to attract boutique businesses to complement the neighboring Vintner Village.Construction on the new building, which will include three bays for businesses, as well as an adjacent office building for a nonprofit,...

The region’s wine leaders realized several years ago that an investment in students and research would ultimately lead to a more lucrative statewide industry.The students have come and the research is underway with the opening of the Washington State University Ste. Michelle Wine Estates Wine Science Center in Richland.“Industry leaders...

By Wine News ServicePolitically, Washington’s Columbia Valley has been the red part of a blue state for decades. And when it comes to wine, Washington has shifted firmly to being a red wine-producing state.The last year Washington produced more white wine than red was in 2012, and it’s likely to...

By Sean BassingerEven the sweetest wine has waste.That’s why two Eastern Washington cities have invested in special wastewater treatment facilities to handle wine effluent.It’s not a glamorous piece of the wine industry, but it’s a critical part of a continued multimillion-dollar effort to draw more wineries to the Tri-City area.The...