Celebrating Diversity Winner for August

KENNEWICK, Wash. - 

This months winner for Celebrating Diversity is the owner of Palencia Winery, Victor Palencia. 

"It's extremely motivating to win this award. A big part of the reason I brought Monarcha Winery to the Tri-Cities was because its immense diversity," says Palencia. 

Palencia was born in Michoacan, Mexico, but grew up in Prosser, Wash. after moving at an early age. 

Palencia says he remembers seeing his dad work in the vineyards most of his life and from that his passion for wine grew. 

"Watching my father gave me some early introduction and interest into wine making," says Palencia. "I wanted to focus more on the production side and not so much the agricultural stuff." 

Palencia says his upbringing and where he grew up played a huge role in where he is today. 

"Prosser is a small farming community and I like to tease people that there are only two things to do in Prosser; one is play football and the second is you get into the wine business," says Palencia. "I wasn't very fast so I stayed in the wine business."

Palencia says he likes to incorporate his diverse past in his wine, but not make it the focal point. 

"For me, it's a little bit of humility to bring it back where I come from," says Palencia. "We are one of the few Latino owned wineries here in the northwest and I want to let that shine through our wines, but not make our wine all about that." 

Being one of the few Latino owned wineries in the northwest, I asked Palencia what sort of challenges he has faced in starting his own winery. 

"The underlying fear of failure is always there for me, but honestly the support has far outweighed any of the challenges I've faced since starting this business," says Palencia. 

Palencia prefers to honor what brought him to where he is with subtlety. 

"The man with the shovel on our labels is a tribute to my dad working the fields. He was always seen with a shovel while working and it's because of seeing him out there I got to where I am," says Palencia.