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It’s no exaggeration to say if it weren’t for Hedges Family Estate on Red Mountain, the Tri-Cities restaurant scene would have lost Fat Olives to Walla Walla.

The neighborhood surrounding Richland’s Uptown District wouldn’t be nearly as delicious, and owner/vintner JD Nolan might be collaborating on his award-winning Schooler Nolan wines with folks other than the Hedges and the Mercers.

“My dad was at a specialty trade show in Anchorage, and we’ve always had Hedges wines on our wine list, so he goes to the Hedges table, and there’s Pete Hedges pouring,” Nolan said. “They had never met, but my dad tells him, ‘I’d love to come down and work a crush some time.’

“I guess Pete said, ‘Come on down!’ ‘Now, everybody says they want to work crush, but nobody follows through.”