Yakima Valley-based Fortuity Cellars is expanding into two other Washington communities this year: the downtown Ellensburg Historic District and the new Tumwater Craft District.

From the very beginning our business plan called for expanding our tasting room footprint to at least three locations. Of course, the pandemic put the brakes on that plan at least for a time, said Lee Fergestrom, Fortuity co-owner and general manager. We are now ready to expand and ready to share more Fortuity across the state.

Fortuity started making wine in 2017 and began selling in 2018 out of a small incubator in Grandview. The award-winning winery, which sources from nine different family-owned vineyards throughout the Yakima Valley, completed its new production facility in Sawyer in March 2020, and after a delay from the pandemic, opened for wine tasting in August 2020.

Co-owners Lee and Emily Fergestrom, along with winemaker Alexis Sells, said after pushing through the pandemic, they are looking forward to nearly doubling production to meet the needs of the three tasting locations. More than 85% of Fortuitys production is direct to consumer, with the remaining wine self-distributed to other small businesses in the Yakima Valley, Ellensburg, Moses Lake, Olympia, Gig Harbor and Seattle.

Fortuitys Ellensburg location will be in the Cadwell-Lyons building at Third Avenue and Main Street.

Connecting with community has been a driver for us since day one, said Emily Fergestrom, Fortuity owner and chief brand officer. Ellensburg has it all. Its small business community is thriving and the historic downtown core is vibrant, featuring fabulous restaurants, art galleries, wine tasting, boutiques, breweries and more.

Jodi Polak, co-owner of the Cadwell-Lyons Building with her husband, Andy Polak, noted that when it was built in the late 1800s, the Lyons Block was the gateway to downtown Ellensburg for travelers and visitors arriving via the train depot.

The building itself has a rich and storied history, Polak said. Despite a fire that destroyed the second floor in the 1960s, it has continued to house many staple businesses over the past 130 years in the remaining, original brick spaces of the first floor.

Fortuity invited Pacific Northwest artist and Ellensburg resident Erin Oostra to co-locate with them and develop a destination wine and art gallery, with the latter named Nuwave Gallery.

The Fortuity/Nuwave space will be available to rent for private events, accommodating as many as 75 guests. Fortuity is working with Yakima-based Beyer Architects on the space and expects to open its Ellensburg location by midsummer, with hours to be determined.

Fergestroms learned about the Tumwater Craft District in December 2020 when they drove by the site on their way to visit Lees parents, who live in Olympia. They reached out to John Peters, developer of this site.

The District houses a Heritage Distilling Company and the South Puget Sound Community College Craft Brewing and Distilling Program. Fortuity will be in the Market Building along with other craft producers, including a bakery, caf, cidery, coffee shop, ice cream, restaurant and tequila bar.

Groundbreaking on the Market Building began earlier this month. Fortuity is working with Seattle Cardinal Architecture PC on the Tumwater location and expects to open later this year.

We are very excited to be part of bringing craft beverage back to Tumwater, said Lee Fergestrom, who grew up in the Olympia/Tumwater area and graduated from Tumwater High School. Washington state is flourishing with world-class wineries, breweries and distilleries and Im very grateful for the opportunity to share Fortuity wines with my hometown.

Winery operations and the tasting room will continue at Fortuitys current Wapato-area location, with wine tasting hours offered Friday, Saturday and Sunday from spring through fall.