WIT Cellars Finds New Home in Prosser’s Vintner’s Village
WIT Partners Pay $1 Million to Purchase Gamache Vintners Winemaking Facility and Tasting Room
WIT Cellars owners share a toast with Gamache Vintners owners after WIT Cellars bought the Gamache Family’s winery and tasting room at Vintner’s Village in Prosser, WA., for $1 million. The Gamache brand is retiring with the sale. Pictured from left to right are: Danielle Boyd, Cat Warwick, Flint Nelson, Gina Adams, Paula Gamache, Roger Gamache and Bob Gamache.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This story originally appeared in the July, 2021 Issue of Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business and is being published here with the permission of TCAJOB. Read the original at tricitiesbusinessnews.com/2021/07/wit-cellars/
By The Staff at Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business
A fast-growing winery is the latest addition to Prosser’s Vintner’s Village.
WIT Cellars, formed in 2016 by three former Kestrel Vintners winemakers, bought the Gamache Vintners four-acre property at 505 Cabernet Court in Prosser, WA., for $1 million in June.
WIT owners Flint Nelson, Gina Adams and Cat Warwick were considering building their own winemaking facility and tasting room in the area. Opportunity knocked when Gamache Vintners owners Bob and Cris Gamache, along with Roger and Paula Gamache, decided to sell their property.
The Gamaches will retire the brand when the sale closes.
The Gamaches blamed the pandemic for the closure, posting on their Facebook page: “After an unprecedented economic disruption last year, Gamache Vintners has made the difficult decision to close the winery/ tasting room facility on June 1.”
They are continuing to sell their wine online only with scheduled pickup appointments or shipping until they out of inventory.
“This is a great step forward with WIT. We are so jazzed about the WIT brand coming in, not only because the wines are fabulous, but because we are so looking forward to seeing WIT grow. We feel like it’s the right fit and facility for the next phase for WIT to keep growing and doing great things,” said Roger Gamache, who plans to continue to grow Cabernet Sauvignon at Dalee Vineyard in Red Mountain, as well as serve on the Wine Industry Foundation Board.
For WIT, the Gamaches’ exit from the industry offered the perfect opportunity to secure two buildings. One is a 3,400-square-foot space it will use for a tasting room. The other is 4,600 square feet and will provide room for storage and winemaking.
WIT’s Warwick called the Gamache property a dream come true. The team was making wine at Nelson’s home and was out of room. They heard about the potential listing and made an offer within two hours of touring.
WIT opened in 2016 and produced about 1,350 cases in its debut year. It reached its 5,000-case goal in year three, two years ahead of schedule.
Warwick said the new property allows it to consolidate in a single location.
WIT Cellars closed its storefront tasting room at 2880 Lee Road in Prosser the weekend of July 11 and opened in their new building on July 15. The winery also operates a tasting room in Woodinville. The phone number at the new Prosser location is (509) 786-1311. Find out more about WIT Cellars at: www.witcellars.com.
