Bella Pretlow Leverages Business Training to Elevate Washington Wine

By Scott Jackson

When Bella Pretlow (’24) first moved from Anchorage, Alaska, to attend WSU Tri-Cities, she knew little about wine or her new home state. However, after earning her degree in wine and beverage business management, she’s determined to help elevate Washington wine to the acclaim it deserves.

“My main goal when picking a degree was something that was niche but stable,” Pretlow says. “I had no history in it, no prior knowledge, nothing, but it sounded interesting, and wine is not going away anytime soon.”

Pretlow earned college credits through the Running Start program at Richland High School. During her senior year in 2019, she moved to the Tri-Cities to attend WSU.

Because she helps care for her stepfather who is a disabled veteran, her WSU tuition was waived through a Washington state legislature provision. She has since come to be recognized by her instructors as one of their most focused and engaged students.

“Bella is universally recognized among our faculty as being one of our most hard-working and dedicated students ever,” says Tim Baker, academic director at WSU Tri-Cities. “She is totally committed to a long-term career in the wine industry.”

Campus engagement fuels wine passion

Despite her initial unfamiliarity with the industry, Pretlow has become an outspoken champion of Washington wine since she started her degree.

“I think Washington is a very underrated area for wine,” Pretlow says. “I went to California recently for a conference, and I got to taste some California wines. I get the hype, but I think Washington is somewhat on par with California.”

During her time as an undergrad, Pretlow was also active in the campus community. In addition to taking on the role of communications officer for the Coug Wine Society, she was also copresident of the Black Student Union at WSU Tri-Cities and had a hand in their project installing a portrait and plaque of former WSU President Elson S. Floyd in the campus building named for him.

“There wasn’t really anything in the building to tell people who Elson S. Floyd was,” she says. “I had been there two years, not even knowing the man was Black.”

Pretlow says one of the most impactful experiences she had at WSU was when she participated in a study abroad trip to one of the oldest and most famous wine-growing regions in the world—Florence, Italy.

Aiming to advance inclusivity in wine industry

Pretlow says she’s grateful for the opportunities and experiences afforded her in her time at WSU Tri-Cities and is looking forward to seeing the wine and beverage business management program expanded in the future.

“I would also like to see more awareness about the degree,” she says. “A lot of people would know I was doing wine business, but they couldn’t name the degree. There are people who still think I’m doing viticulture and enology.”

Thanks in part to the knowledge and experience she gleaned as a member of the Coug Wine Society, Pretlow secured a job working in the tasting room at Wautoma Springs Winery, where she has been working since July 2023. Following graduation, she applied to multiple internships and to a master’s program in strategic communications but speculates she’ll probably continue to work for Wautoma Springs for the foreseeable future.

Because of her time at WSU, Pretlow has built a passion for the hospitality community. Even if she were accepted into a master’s program, she says she would continue working in the hospitality sector and would make sure her graduate work was relevant to her career goals.

Ultimately, Pretlow says she would like to spend her career working to uplift Washington wine.

“Less than 1 percent of wineries in the US are Black-owned,” she says, quoting an oft-cited figure from the Association of African American Vinters. “Currently, the only wineries that I know of that are even owned by people of color are Frichette and Palencia. I would like to bring more awareness to the lack of diversity in the wine community and work to increase it.”