04/10/06 New Wine Center

New Wine Center to educate and promote viticulture. I'm Greg Martin with today's Fruit Grower Report. Recently a ground breaking ceremony was held near Prosser, Washington on a new wine center that will educate and promote viticulture, enology and culinary practices. The vision of the Walter Clore Wine and Culinary Center is to showcase the quality of Washington's Wine Industry. Executive Director Gayle Wheeler explains. WHEELER: The center is being named after Dr. Walter Clore who in the state of Washington is referred to as the father of the Washington wine industry. The center itself is being designed as a destination facility that will focus on the history and the education of the wine and the grape industry, and it will also have a culinary component that will be related to the regions foods. The organization is a 501c3 non-profit that is currently raising funds for the project. WHEELER: We are in to phase two of raising the funding for the project. We have in the past received two different pieces of funding. The first one was $250,000 and the next was $280,000. Our overall goal is $10 million with the project. An interesting aspect of the center is that it will represent all of the states wineries and will rotate wine sampling on a monthly basis, a daunting task since there are over 300 appellations in the state. The Walter Clore Wine and Culinary Center is expected to open in the Spring of 2007. That's today's Fruit Grower Report, I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.