Port of Kennewick Opening Winery Village

The Port of Kennewick broke ground on a new wine and artisan village on Columbia Drive Monday.

Wine Boss Founder Charlie Hoppes consulted on the project ensuring that the building would provide the best chances of success for new wineries.

“If we get people like this to do things well it just moves the whole industry forward and so this is a small step and there’s not that many facilities, but they all add up.”

The village will contain some communal opportunities for the winemakers who will be able to learn and save money as they get started sharing a storage room, wastewater treatment and more.

Hoppes says other areas have implemented the wine village idea and it can make a big economic impact.

“It all kind of works together where you draw people that want to come to places where they can taste a lot of wine and have good services and lots of amenities and get out of the rain and come over to this side and get a little bit of sun.”

The Port hopes to open the buildings in the spring of 2017.

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