Best winery in Tri-Cities? This Latino-owned Eastern WA company won our poll
After a month of voting, the Tri-City Herald has crowned the Tri-Cities area’s top winery.
After asking Herald readers to nominate their favorites, the Herald created a bracket with 32 of the region’s best wineries. Each week, half of the top picks were eliminated by reader votes.
With more than 22,000 votes cast in total, the winner is Palencia and Monarcha, which fall under the Palencia Wine Company umbrella.
What is Palencia Wine Company?
Led by owner and head winemaker Victor Palencia, the Palencia Wine Company is an Eastern Washington-grown establishment.
Currently, the company has two locations: a tasting room and main production facility in Kennewick, and a vineyard and estate in Benton City.
The Benton City location is focused on the Palencia label, featuring wines made with grapes from a single vineyard with afficionados and collectors in mind.
While Palencia wines are available at both the Kennewick and Benton City sites, the Kennewick location places a greater emphasis on the budget-friendly Monarcha label, which features lower cost blends that are perfect for casual drinking.
Who is Eastern Washington winemaker Victor Palencia?
Palencia, who’s entering his 25th year of making wine, began his wine industry journey at a young age.
He was born in Michoacán, Mexico, and raised in Prosser.
Palencia’s father worked in agriculture in the greater Yakima Valley.
During Victor’s childhood, his father transitioned from primarily working on perennial crops to wine grapes as the Eastern Washington wine industry boomed and countless acres were transformed into vineyards — sparking his son’s interest in viticulture.
One of Victor Palencia’s neighbors owned a winery and took Palencia under his wing, introducing him to the winemaking craft.
From then on, Palencia told the Herald, his dream was to have his own vineyard and work as a winemaker.
By his senior year of high school, Palencia was part of his neighbor’s winemaking team.
After graduating, he enrolled in the viticulture program at Walla Walla Community College. Because he was still underage at the time, he couldn’t drink in class like his older classmates.
This inspired Palencia to join the petition to update Washington law so underage students 18 and up can legally taste alcohol in certain educational settings.
How did local winery come to Tri-Cities?
After graduating from WWCC, Palencia worked for some Washington wine companies, including J&S Crushing. In that time, he said, he learned a lot about the state’s wine landscape and the different options for sourcing grapes.
Palencia launched his Palencia Wine Company participating in Port of Walla Walla’s incubator program in partnership with the Walla Walla Regional Airport. The program gives young wineries six years to bloom.
After its time in the program ended, the Palencia Wine Company relocated to the Tri-Cities area.
The company eventually launched its Monarcha Tasting Room location at the Columbia Gardens Wine and Artisan Village, 421 East Columbia Drive in Kennewick.
With the COVID-19 pandemic in the years following, the timing wasn’t great, Palencia told the Herald.
However, he said, his company got through some rough patches with the support of the Tri-Cities wine and tourism industries.
When did Red Mountain estate and vineyard open?
Palencia Wine Company’s growth over the years allowed the business to open a 4.5-acre vineyard and estate in Benton City in 2024.
Palencia Estate, which is part of the Red Mountain viticultural area, is at 65105 North Demoss Road.
It’s a dream come true for Palencia, he said.
“Sometimes I have to pinch myself about getting to this point,” he told the Herald.
Growing up, there weren’t many Latino winemakers in the area, Palencia said.
Although this made him underestimate himself at many points throughout his viticultural journey, he said, remaining focused on his goals allowed him to get to where he’s at now.
He’s currently focused on thinking outside the box, exploring the unexplored and introducing new styles through the winery.
Palencia said he follows the winemaking process for each bottle from beginning to end. From his perspective, every step impacts the final product.
He said winemaking is like a language that’s not made up of words, but of actions.
“The story begins in the vineyard,” he said.
Palencia said the Palencia Wine Company wouldn’t exist without the support of staff members including his wife, sisters and assistant winemaker Josh Aznaran.
Where is Palencia’s Monarcha Tasting Room in Kennewick?
Palencia’s Monarcha Tasting Room in Kennewick is open by appointment on Monday, noon to 5 p.m. on Thursdays and Sundays, noon to 6 p.m. on Fridays and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays.
It offers tasting flights and a mix of Monarcha and Palencia bottles.
When is Palencia Estate in Benton City open to visitors?
Palencia Estate in Benton City is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday.
Tasting opportunities exclusively feature Palencia label wines.
Palencia Estate is home to the Culture Shock Bistro food truck, with recommended wine pairings for each menu item. It’s open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. On occasion, you’ll find Palencia himself cooking there.
There is indoor and outdoor seating available, with a view of the vineyard on the back patio.
Additionally, you can reserve a slot for the limited Dig Deep tasting experience, an interactive, educational experience that includes a walkthrough of the estate with Palencia.
Palencia, who’s fluent in English and Spanish, offers the experience in both languages.
Palencia Wine Company has two membership options: Selección and La Familia.
Neither has a sign-up fee. Both come with discounted flights and bottle purchases, two allocations per year of six bottles each and first access to events.
What are popular Palencia Wine Company wines?
Palencia told the Herald that white wines are most popular in the spring and summer, while red wines gain in popularity in the fall and winter.
A sparkling white counoise made with the first grapes harvested from the Benton City vineyard sold out well before summer started, according to Palencia.
Palencia said his “anchor white” is the albariño, an aromatic white wine with tasting notes of green apple, pear and floral elements in its most recent release. It’s available in sparkling and still varieties.
Palencia wine bottles feature a logo depicting Palencia’s dad with a shovel, paying homage to the hard work and care put into each bottle as well as the origin and inspiration for the company.
Monarcha bottles feature a monarch butterfly label design, with different wing colors representing different kinds of wine. If you like the Monarcha cabernet sauvignon, you can identify it by the orange-winged insect on the label.
Palencia said the monarch butterfly pays homage to his birthplace of Michoacán and represents the journey he took to become a winemaker with his own estate.
Because of his humble beginnings, Palencia said, he had to let his dreams pull him toward each goal - much like the migration path of a monarch butterfly.
What’s next for Palencia Wine Company?
After being “go, go, go” for many years, Palencia said he’s entering an age of refinement. He’s focused on enjoying life, and he hopes that carries over to each bottle.
Palencia told the Herald that he’s thinking of doing primarily exclusive releases in the near future as well as very limited productions and more experiences.
Palencia wants to thank everyone who voted for Palencia and Monarch wines in the bracket for their support.
“We love what we do here, and our biggest joy is to be able to share that,” the winemaker said.
This story was originally published August 7, 2025 at 11:26 AM.