New winery opening Kennewick tasting room at Columbia Gardens wine village

Muret-Gaston Wines, a sister label to Purple Star Wines of Benton City, plans to open a Kennewick tasting room by May 1.

Owners Kyle and Amy Johnson have signed a lease with the Port of Kennewick for space in the Columbia Gardens Wine & Artisan Village. Cave B Winery moved out of the spot at the end of March.

As soon as the port completes some minor cleaning and fix-up work, Amy Johnson said they hope to begin moving in and setting up for the opening.

“We’ve got the equipment, we’ve got the glasses,” and will be ready to go soon after the port is ready for us, she said.

“Columbia Gardens is a great place to spend a warm, sunny afternoon,” she added, noting the view of adjacent Duffy’s Pond, which is frequented by waterfowl, shorebirds and songbirds that bolster its appeal.

Her soon-to-be neighbors there — Monarcha and Bartholomew wineries and the Gordon Estates tasting room — made the site a great spot to locate, the Johnsons said.

They aim to “engage the whole village,” both the wineries and the adjacent food trucks, to create a destination for wine lovers, tourists and anyone looking for an enjoyable afternoon.

They are familiar with the wines of Bartholomew, Monarcha and Gordon, and believe the variety the four wineries have to offer, plus their different styles of winemaking, will appeal to most everyone.

“It’s fantastic wine and they’re all different and different expressions” that show how the winemakers differ in approach and in the style of their wines.

The Johnsons source their grapes from the Yakima Valley, Red Mountain and Wahluke Slope American Viticultural Areas (AVAs), so some of the AVAs and vineyards they draw their grapes from are the same as their Columbia Gardens neighbors.

But Amy feels each winery’s different varietals and winemaking styles will complement one another and encourage tasters to evaluate and compare those differences. The Johnsons aim to “meet people on their (wine) journey … and help them discover where their palate is.”

They accordingly offer some of the more commonly encountered wines under their Purple Star label at affordable prices that run below $20, including a Rosé of Mourvèdre, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon, all labeled as from the Columbia Valley AVA.

The current offerings from Muret-Gaston label include a white blend made from grapes originally grown in the Rhone region of France, a Picpoul and a Grenache Blanc, (both white wines also from the Rhone), a Chardonnay, a red blend made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Petit Verdot, and two Syrahs, one from Red Mountain, the other from the Yakima Valley.

Their prices tend to run $10 to $20 higher than Purple Star.

The Johnsons are both graduates of Washington State University, where she earned a degree “in dairy farming,” aiming to return to her family’s dairy operation near Vancouver, Wash. Kyle’s focus was viticulture, but many of the skills he learned at WSU also had applications on the side of the dairy business that grows hay and other feed for the cattle.

That was not to be, however.

Kyle, a Tri-Citian at heart, was, in essence, rained out of the area. The lack of sunshine and the recurring rain convinced him he needed to work elsewhere, and he soon landed a job as a viticulturist for Chateau Ste. Michelle, working at the east end of the Columbia Gorge.

From there, he went to the now-closed Olsen Estates, after which they launched Purple Star in 2008.

The Johnsons have regularly been producing wines that score from 90 to 94 points, with the latter being a separate label, Native Sun, made only in years when the Cabernet Sauvignon grapes they buy from Kiona Vineyards’ Heart of the Hill planting are deemed of especially high quality.

They have slowly grown their operation to about 4,000 to 5,000 cases annually, with Muret-Gaston case production at 1,000 to 1,200 cases of the total.

They aim to make the new tasting room into a place to sit, relax, sip and savor wines.

They don’t plan to have a traditional tasting bar because they want to create a personalized experience.

Both Muret-Gaston and Purple Star wines will be served there, and Amy said they plan to align their tasting room hours with the other wine village wineries, which currently are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday to Sunday.