Monarcha winemaker launches Red Mountain estate

A new wine estate has taken root at the foot of Red Mountain near Benton City.

Palencia Family Estate is winemaker Victor Palencia’s newest endeavor. Palencia Wine Company also owns Monarcha Winery in Kennewick.

“This was 12 years ago when we started this thing, so it’s really humbling to see it come to fruition,” Palencia said. “… Even though it’s a little place, it’s super exciting for us to have our own grapes, for Palencia to finally have its own home.”

Palencia acquired the seven-acre estate at 65105 N. Demoss Road in February. 

Its grand opening takes place Sept. 13-15.

Different brands

Although this is Palencia’s first estate, he’s been a leader in Washington wine for a number of years. 

He was recognized by the Washington Secretary of State as a key figure in the wine industry and a Latino pioneer and has been featured in The New York Times. He’s been profiled by Wine Enthusiast Magazine, The Seattle Times and Wine Press Northwest, among others, and his winery was named the Pacific Northwest winery of the year in 2019.

Palencia has used outsourced grapes as he’s built his winery, but he had “the ultimate dream to be able to slowly flip back and start growing my own grapes,” Palencia said.

The new estate in Benton County is separate from his Bodega Palencia tasting room in West Richland, which closed earlier this year.

The opening of Palencia Family Estate won’t affect Monarcha’s tasting room at 421 E. Columbia Drive, Kennewick, which will remain open. 

“My goal from day one, when we launched Palencia Wine Company, was to have two brands, of course, the Monarcha Winery and Palencia Winery,” Palencia said.

The two brands are distinct and serve separate purposes.

Monarcha’s wines are “regionally sourced,” Palencia said. “So they’re not one specific vineyard. Sometimes it will be a blend of certain vineyards, but they will be sourced from the same AVA.”

On the other hand, Palencia wines “are single vineyard and we don’t blend. They are very focused, very specific wines,” he said. 

Because the vineyard can only produce so much, Palencia wines will be more limited.

“I tell people, if you want truly collector style wines or wines that are unique in their own way, go for Palencia,” Palencia said. “If you just want an everyday, great quality, affordable, fairly priced wine, Monarcha is all day … it’s just like a lifestyle, just casual Thursday night pizza night wine.”

Both brands, however, are in a niche that shelters them somewhat from the effects of the current market glut.

“Our wines are a little bit more in the premium sector … and the varieties that we’re sourcing are not in oversupply,” Palencia said. 

Vineyard variety

Palencia’s 4.5-acre vineyard is planted with three varieties of grape: counoise, grenache and mourvedre. 

The vineyard was planted in 2013, Palencia said, so when he took over in February, he had the chance to have a hand in the vineyard from the start of the season.

It was “excellent timing and gave us the opportunity to still play our own from the beginning of the season, which is pruning,” Palencia said. 

Ordinarily, a vineyard would need to be planted and might take three to four years to produce a crop, whereas “we’re able to come in and immediately reap the rewards of an established vineyard,” Palencia said. 

He’ll be able to harvest the grapes for the first time, too. Palencia expected to harvest the first grapes starting Sept. 11.

Despite having only three varieties, “we’re going to have a number of lines coming out of here,” Palencia said. That’s because “I have different blocks of the same variety, and certain blocks I’m growing differently,” to produce different styles, he said.

The counoise will become a pét-nat, or sparkling wine, Palencia said. Because the year has been a hot one for Washington, Palencia anticipates that the pét-nat could be bottled and ready to sell by December.

“It’s a great turnaround,” he said. “And for us, it’d be like the finish line.”

He also anticipates a mourvedre, grenache and rosé blend, as well as a grenache, counoise and mourvedre blend, called GCM. 

Love of the land

Palencia Family Estate will be open to the public, though Palencia anticipates that at some point the wines will be exclusive to the wine club.

“My goal is to get people to get more familiar with the vineyards, or even just a vineyard, so they can really maybe experience or get the insight of why our wines are so special … why this region is so special,” Palencia said.

The winery has seating both inside and outside, and the patio opens directly onto the vineyard. Tastings will take place there, and Palencia plans to have the Culture Shock Bistro food truck or live entertainment come out to the estate.

“I think the closer we can get them to the vineyards, whether they’re locals or people visiting now, I think that longer impression will leave on these consumers to understand … this is a community effort,” Palencia said.

Palencia is getting back to his roots, too. 

Palencia’s logo, a sketch of a man with a shovel, is a tribute to his father, who worked in agriculture his whole life, Palencia said. “That’s how I remember him, him holding a shovel.”

“I grew up around a vineyard, so for me, this is a way to get back closer to the soil, get closer to the essence of what really makes wine special,” he said.