08/05/08 Building A Family Wine

Building a Family Wine. I'm Greg Martin with today's Fruit Grower Report. New wineries are popping up all over the northwest and it is interesting how they come into being. Sometimes it's a retirement whim or just because it looks fun and sometimes it's a family thing. Take the new Martinez & Martinez Winery in Prosser, Washington. MARTINEZ: My husband and his whole family, they're Sergio & Kristy Martinez, they bought about 14 acres up on the Horse Heaven Hills back in 1980 and it took many years  27 years later my husband talked Sergio into maybe let's do it. That is Monica Martinez, Managing Partner and wife of Andrew. Monica also came from a wine family in Southern California. MARTINEZ: It's always been a dream of mine personally as well. My grandpa Andy & Betty Tudor had a label down in Southern California, it was Tudor Hills Vineyard label and in 1970 they moved their family of 8 children up to Washington State because they saw the potential of the wine industry up here. Martinez & Martinez has recently released their first wines and the decision to produce cabernet was an easy one. MARTINEZ: It's an all cabernet block and the grapes in that block have been known to make exceptional Washington wines. Where it's located on Phinny Hill up in the Horse Heaven Hills has very unique geological and geographical qualities to it to produce an excellent cabernet. Like many small wineries just getting started the Martinez & Martinez label has only produced 250 cases but the quality is exceptional. That's today's Fruit Grower Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.