Incubating the Mid-Columbia wine industry

As winemakers, they compete for business, but by being close to each other in the Port of Walla Walla Industrial Park they also complement each other.

For Adamant Cellars, Lodmell Cellars, Trio Vintners, CAVU Cellar and Kontos Cellars, being together in the port's wine incubator facility at the Walla Walla airport makes them a destination for wine lovers seeking boutique wines, said Andrew Lodmell of Lodmell Cellars.

The port initially built three incubator wineries in 2006 to encourage the area's wine industry. Two years later, the port used state money to build two additional incubators.

More than a year ago, Joel Waite set up CAVU Cellars in one of the new buildings. Chris Kontos and his winemaker brother Cameron moved into the other one to start Kontos Cellars.

"It's such a supportive environment to grow in," said Chris, who also grows wheat north of Walla Walla. For instance, he said, winemaker neighbors helped them navigate the complexity of liquor laws faster than they otherwise would have been able.

"We are in different stages of our businesses. We are competitors but we also work well together. It's a very unique setting," said Denise Slattery, one of three co-owners of Trio Vintners.

While the winery owners work together to advertise and promote the area as a whole, they're also working to niche-market their wines and develop a strategy to grow out of the incubator and make way for other newcomers.

Jim Kuntz, executive director of the Port of Walla Walla, said the idea of the incubators is to help new winemakers get started. The port offers the incubators for up to six years for moderate rent, which starts at about $1,200 a month and gradually increases to about $2,200 in the sixth year, he said.

Once the winemakers find their feet in the market, they are expected to go out on their own, he said.

The incubator winery owners all have a strategy for growth.

"We don't want to over-extend," said Slattery of Trio Vintners. Trio is happy making 1,000 cases a year, focusing on single vineyards and single varietals, particularly sangiovese, syrah, carmenere, mourvedre, grenache and zinfandel, a relatively uncommon variety in the state.

Since getting started at the incubator in 2006, Trio has been growing slowly, relying on selling half of its products from the tasting room, Slattery said. She said wineries try to provide tasting room visitors a unique experience to lure them back.

It's important to get customers engaged, she said. "The more they try, the more they'll buy."

Despite the economic slowdown, overall sales have remained steady. She said Trio also is using blogging and social networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, to reach young wine drinkers.

Newcomer Kontos also is making a limited quantity of wine, which is being discovered primarily by word of mouth publicity and visitors who've heard about the port's incubator, Chris Kontos said.

While Chris Kontos manages the winery, his brother Cameron Kontos, an assistant winemaker at Forgeron Cellars, makes the wines.

"We always had an appreciation for wine," said Chris, whose father Cliff is a self-taught winemaker and co-owner of Fort Walla Walla Cellars.

Kontos so far has released five wines, mostly in the $22 to $36 range, he said. The winery soon will publicly release its 2007 Pepper Bridge Vineyard cabernet sauvignon, and will release 25 cases of its 2007 malbec to wine club members, who also will be first to sample its 2007 petit verdot next spring.

Sales are covering costs, Chris Kontos said, but they didn't expect a profit immediately. The brothers plan to stay at the incubator for about four years, he said, adding that the incubator "allows us to invest time and energy to growing our business rather than servicing debt."

Waite opened CAVU to the public in April. To keep his wines affordable, he also pours by the glass, said the East Coast native who was drawn by the charm of Walla Walla almost five years ago.

A private chef in Washington, D.C., he studied enology at Walla Walla Community College and worked at Maryhill Winery as a winemaker's assistant for a year before venturing out on his own with help from his parents, who are partners in the winery. The family invested $400,000, Waite said.

He named the winery CAVU to honor his father James, a former pilot. CAVU stands for Ceiling and Visibility Unlimited, an aviation term meaning "it's a great day to go flying," he said.

Waite so far has released four wines including a barbera, an Italian varietal, all within the $22 to $30 range. He's getting his website redesigned and plans to use social networking tools to connect with potential customers and build his brand.

Lodmell of Lodmell Cellars evolved from being a grape grower to a winemaker in barely six years after planting his first vines in 1995. After the 9/11 attacks, he was concerned grape buyers might cancel their orders, so he began dabbling in winemaking with a lot of help from winemaking friends.

Lodmell said winemaking is a natural extension of his understanding of the soil and grapes. "If you've got a good product, it'll eventually reach people. You have to be patient," he said.

Devin Stinger, who left a job as an aerospace engineer to be a winemaker, started Adamant Cellars with his wife Debra in October 2006. "Business has been pretty decent," he said, but added he's trying to reach a wider audience beyond the tasting room.

Marketing has been the greatest challenge, he said, and if he were starting his business today he would keep a lot of spare cash handy while getting established. He said Adamant makes 1,000 to 1,200 cases a year.

Adamant's wines are priced from about $20 up to $35, and Stinger said the syrah, as well as a white blend of sauvignon blanc and semillon, have been popular.

"We want to get out of the incubator in two years, that's the goal, but we want to do it smartly," Stinger said. Doing it smartly means keeping another outside job -- he's also working full time as a business analyst for a Walla Walla company.

Wine expert Coke Roth of Kennewick said new winemakers often find that "establishing a reputation is a lot harder than making wine," and many have to work a long time before quitting their other jobs.

But what attracts people to the wine business is the romance associated with it, Roth said. For many, he said, it's a process that's "science and art" at the same time.