(BH) - Winemaker Keith Kenison never dreamed 14 Hands would hit the top 10 list of U.S. premium wines.

But less than a decade after Ste. Michelle Wine Estates introduced the brand at restaurants, the approachable, fruity wines have won over the taste buds of wine novices and connoisseurs.

It has become popular enough and -- as Washington's third-largest wine brand -- big enough to earn its own winery at the foot of the Horse Heaven Hills.

On Thursday, about 150 members of the wine industry raised glasses of 14 Hands' "The Reserve" wines to toast the brand's new Prosser home.

"May our paths cross often, and on those occasions may it be to enjoy a glass of 14 Hands wine," Kenison said before the clinking began.

Ted Baseler, Ste. Michelle's president and CEO, said the brand, first launched in 2005, is breaking metrics they had never even heard of.