State to lease acreage for winery

BENTON CITY, Benton County — State officials have reached a deal with a state company to lease 404 acres of land in south-central Washington for a winery complex.

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

The latest lease calls for a vineyard and winery complex. A dozen small wineries will share crushing facilities but have independent barrel rooms and tasting rooms, said Duane Unland, DNR business development manager for the region.

The 55-year lease will be worth about $500,000 a year for the state school trust fund.

The name of the company was not released Monday. State and company officials were expected to sign the lease today at a ceremony in Olympia.

Red Mountain, a rural sagebrush-covered hill in the lower Yakima Valley that is now increasingly dotted with wine-grape vineyards, became the state's fifth federally recognized wine appellation in 2001.

Washington boasts more than 500 wineries and 31,000 acres of wine grapes. A new study says the industry contributed an estimated $3 billion to the state's economy in 2006, the most recent year for which figures are available.