Canadian company buys all 670 acres of Red Mountain land

(TheNewsTribune) -  Canadian company has scooped up about a fifth of the land available for sale in a prime wine grape growing area on Red Mountain near Benton City.

Aquilini Properties, owned by a family who also owns the Vancouver Canucks, bought all 670 acres of undeveloped land that Kennewick Irrigation District offered for sale Saturday during a five-hour live auction in Pasco.

The 31 parcels that KID has held onto since 1943 will cost the Vancouver, B.C., limited partnership more than $15.9 million.

In an auction that was compared to a high-stakes poker game, Aquilini Properties outbid about 15 other wine grape growers and companies from Washington and California’s Napa Valley. The winning bid was $8.3 million.

Aquilini Properties also will pay a 5.5 percent fee on its winning bid to Musser Bros. Auctions of Pasco, which ran the auction for KID, said Chuck Freeman, KID’s manager.

The company also must pay $7.6 million for its part of KID’s $20.2 million local improvement district project to bring Yakima River water to Red Mountain.

Red Mountain is the state’s smallest American Viticultural Area, also called an appellation. That means it’s a governmentally recognized wine grape growing region.

About 1,400 of its acres are planted vineyards, and it’s home to several wineries. Dozens of other winemakers throughout Washington use Red Mountain grapes.

Recently, one of Napa Valley’s premier wineries, Duckhorn Vineyards in St. Helena, Calif., announced plans to open a Cabernet Sauvignon-focused winery using grapes from there.