PROSSER, Wash. -- Victor Palencia's not legally old enough to drink, but he's making gallons of Washington wine with the full blessing of his parents.
On this particular morning, Palencia, 20, tuned his boom box to 105.3, the only FM station that can be heard clearly in Willow Crest winery's barrel room in Prosser. He wore baggy jeans, dress shoes and a wine-colored T-shirt with "Got Vino" scrawled across the chest.
He popped a rubber cork, or bung, off the top of a barrel of a cabernet blend, lowered his face, closed his eyes and took a deep whiff.
"To me, it's one of the best smells in the world," he said. "The aromas really amplify in the barrel."
Palencia, Willow Crest's assistant winemaker, grew up amid the green vines of the Mid-Columbia. His family lived just 105 grape rows from the home of his current employer after they moved to the area from Michoacan, Mexico, when he was 2.
And he's never been back.
Palencia is one of the youngest winemakers in the state and part of an increasing number of Hispanic winemakers and winery owners in the United States.
However, the numbers still aren't huge.
Victor Cruz, owner and winemaker of Canon De Sol of Benton City, said he hasn't seen many Hispanics in Northwest wineries yet.
"Like anything else, I think it takes time," he said.
But Cruz said with new viticulture and enology schools in the Northwest, more may be on their way to barrel rooms.
"Now, there are the resources that weren't there just a couple of years ago," he said.
And Cruz said he is anxious to see a broad mixture of cultures and colors in U.S. wineries.
Amelia Ceja, the president of Ceja Vineyards in Napa, Calif., agreed. She said there are only a handful of Hispanic winemakers and winery owners in the Golden State, but that's changing fast.
Ceja, who said she's the first Mexican-American woman president of a winery in the United States, has taken her production from 700 cases in 2001 to about 6,000 planned this year.
She said Hispanics in the wine industry may have started from humble beginnings, but are making great strides.
"I already see in Napa and Sonoma young men and women working in the vineyard or as a cellar master," she said. "I am seeing that transition, into thinking that, 'I can be a brand owner, not just work for someone else.' "
A big challenge for future winery owners is finding capital, something very difficult for anyone, she said.
"You have to work for three to four years with nothing to sell," she added. But an education is a good place to start, she said.
Palencia is on his way. He began his grape-inspired career at 13, following his vineyard foreman father and three older brothers into the vineyards.
"I remember going out there with my dad and loving it," he said. "I guess I took it to another level."
Palencia is the first in his family to attend college. This June he received an associate's degree from the Center for Enology and Viticulture at Walla Walla Community College. But while going to school Palencia was too young to drink wine, so a good nose was imperative.
"I could smell, and if I tasted, they watched me spit," he said.
In college, Palencia won several scholarships and was praised for his work.
"What a nice person," said Myles Anderson, director of the Center for Enology and Viticulture and the teacher of some of Palencia's classes.
"He was a serious student. He worked hard. He was diligent and interested. We are doing all we can to cultivate more Latinos to be part of our program. People like Victor are our best recruiters.
"We think he will be one of the first Latinos to have his very own winery," Anderson said.
Palencia worked for Willow Crest owner Dave Minick a few years before he understood the many complexities of making wine. At first, Palencia worked in the vineyards, but Minick, impressed with his good attitude and quick wit, soon started giving him tasks inside the winery.
"I needed help, and Victor showed ambition, a willingness to learn and he liked it," Minick said.
Now that Palencia's back both appear happy with their relationship.
"I love wine, I love grapes and it's fun to share that with him," Minick said.
"It gives me a little more confidence to have someone around to answer questions," Palencia said.
But Minick, who started in the wine business as a grape grower, said he's learning from Palencia, too. He said he isn't surprised by Palencia's success.
"I think you are going to see more of it," he said, referring to Hispanics getting into the industry. "Victor won't be the last."
Palencia's aspiration is to own his own winery. Smiling widely, he said that goal seems more within reach every day.
"It would be a dream come true," he said.
