Eastern Washington wineries organize to boost tourism, economic development

To a wine tourist, California's Napa Valley quickly conjures images of picturesque vineyards, posh wineries, five-star hotels and spas, gourmet restaurants, championship golf courses — the trappings of "the good life."

Such images begin to evaporate when the scenario shifts to Eastern Washington.

The vineyards are top-flight, and wines they yield are considered world-class.

Yet, apart from a few scattered gems, wine-country amenities in the vast rural region east of the Cascade Mountains are scarce, say regional business and community leaders, who have formed a new group that wants to parlay the wine industry's success into broader economic development.

It's not the fault of Washington's 240 wineries, which have sparked an economic renaissance in an agricultural region where apples and wheat were once undisputed kings.

Instead, they blame themselves for not recognizing several years ago the wine industry's potential to be the trunk of a tree with many economic branches.

Now, the group has formed the nonprofit Washington Wine Country Consortium, which aims to link the Yakima, Columbia and Walla Walla valleys together in a push to attract more wine tourism and related economic development.

"We did not see this boom in wine. ... We were asleep at the wheel, and we had our heads in the sand," said Al DeAtley of Yakima, who is leading the consortium. "The old idea that Yakima is the apple capital of the world is no longer worth the paper it is printed on."

The plan

The group's aim, announced in late June, is to brand the three valleys as "Washington Wine Country." Ultimately, the consortium would act as an umbrella group to promote the area and spearhead lobbying efforts to attract private and government development of tourism infrastructure.

Taking part in building the consortium are chambers of commerce, visitor and convention bureaus, port commissions and other public and private economic development and tourism promotion groups, most winery and grower groups, and community leaders from a wide variety of commerce sectors — from auto dealers to executives from some of the state's largest wineries.

The Grand Vin! wine auction gala, to be held Aug. 2 at DeAtley's palatial estate overlooking Yakima, will help raise money for administrative funding, which is budgeted at about $120,000 a year. The money will pay for an executive director, overhead and other business expenses.

The consortium will officially open for business in late August when it launches its Web site, www.winecountrywashington.org, said Janet LeDuc, DeAtley's daughter and a Seattle clinical psychologist who will put her years of marketing experience to use as a consultant for the consortium.

The next step will be to form a board, hire an executive director and establish general committees in each of the three valleys.

Excluded from the effort would be the Puget Sound appellation and developing wine regions elsewhere in Eastern Washington.

LeDuc said the consortium is focusing on the three valleys because combined they produce most of the state's wine grapes.

Specifically, the target area for developing tourism amenities is along the Interstate 82/U.S. Highway 12 wine trail from Yakima southeast to the Tri-Cities and Walla Walla. The 140 miles run through four of the five federally recognized wine-growing appellations currently in the state.

The hope is that once the number of tourists increases, hotels, restaurants and recreational businesses will follow, with an eye toward building Napa-style amenities.

According to DeAtley, it's a simple idea: "All boats rise on the same tide."

If successful, the consortium's goals would be a boon to Yakima in particular. The city has seen a steep decline in its downtown core, where businesses in recent years have folded, moved to outlying shopping centers, or pulled out of town altogether.

On the other end of the spectrum, Walla Walla has enjoyed frequent write-ups in national publications about its small, high-quality wineries, historic downtown renovations and thriving arts community.

Yet its major industry, wheat farming, has sputtered for five years amid increasing global competition.

Also, Walla Walla's distance from interstate highways, limited commercial airline service and its 5- to 6-hour drives from the Seattle and Portland metropolitan areas have kept wine tourism mostly an undertaking by serious enthusiasts or people visiting town for other reasons.

In the middle is the Tri-Cities, which has a thriving wine industry but is far better known for an economy largely based on scientific research tied to the Hanford nuclear reservation.

Gaining critical mass

Steve Burns, executive director of the Washington Wine Commission, has evolved from a skeptic of both the plan and the proponents' motivation, to an ardent supporter.

The commission, funded through taxes on wine sales and member assessments, is responsible for boosting sales of Washington wines through national and international promotions and education.

Burns said he does not see the consortium's effort as a duplication of his efforts because the varied business and development interests involved can do things the commission is not set up to do.

"Anything that's going to improve the image, infrastructure and vitality of Washington wine country, I'm going to support," Burns said, adding that better roadside signs to alert and direct travelers to wineries and upscale hotels or spas between the Yakima Valley and the Blue Mountains "would be wonderful."

"There is a need for that beyond Yakima, the Tri-Cities and Walla Walla," he added. "I wish (the plan) were much broader in scope."

He also said there is a "basic hunger" for more knowledge among the general public about Washington wines and what's available in wine country.

Scott Pontin, president of the Yakima Valley Winery Association and co-owner of Pontin del Roza Winery near Prosser, agreed.

"Most of the consumers have no idea whether their wine was made in the Columbia Valley or the Yakima Valley," he said. "All they know is that they're drinking Washington wine. Once you get them here, you can teach them about the appellations."

Ted Baseler, president of Stimson Lane Vineyards & Estates, corporate parent of several of the largest wineries in the state, is another consortium supporter.

He said the state's wine country is among the best in the world in every way except one: the lack of lodging and convention facilities, restaurants and other recreational activities for wine tourists.

"They have a lot of money and when they come to town there's little to spend it on," Baseler said. "Historically, it's been hard in Eastern Washington to find places for them to spend their money."

DeAtley, who owns a Yakima paving business, acknowledges his business would stand to profit from the kind of economic development the consortium seeks.

But he said his motivation is borne from frustration of seeing generations of the Yakima Valley's "best and brightest" leave to build careers and families elsewhere.

"I'm doing it because my grandson is 9, and when he gets out of college, maybe there will be something out there for him," he said.

Thomas P. Skeen: 509-525-3300 or tskeen@ubnet.com