12/17/07 Developing Wine

Developing Wine. I'm Greg Martin with today's Fruit Grower Report. I have had the opportunity to drive through the Prosser, Washington area and have noticed a lot of new wineries going up in a very small area. It's a project called Vintner's Village and according to Martin Olsen of Olsen Estates, it's designed to help more people enjoy wine. OLSEN: We have formed an association so we are really trying to do things as a group and especially when it comes to advertising and that sort of thing. What we're got here are several wineries close together and we'd like to make this a destination for people. The group of wineries is in close proximity to food and lodging and is just off the highway for easy access. It makes it easy to try several different wines from various wineries but Olsen says it's not about competition. OLSEN: I've told this to a quite a few of our customers that have come in and said wow, you guys have a lot of competition here  and I say, well these people are actually our partners in this and not necessarily competition because I said look at this park here similar to an amusement park, you're not going to go to an amusement park for one ride only. There are currently 6 tenants in the area and Olsen says they are not done yet. OLSEN: There are two more wineries planned and one is under construction. There is space for potentially more wineries in the future and it's a great way to spend a weekend where you can park your car and sample some great Washington wines. That's today's Fruit Grower Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.