WASHINGTON STATE
Washington State has been a source of Vitis Labrusca (jelly jar)
grape varieties for a number of years. Early wine production centered on
"fruit" and "berry" wines, with Chateau Ste. Michelle being in
production back in the 1930s!
In 1967 Ste. Michelle undertook the seemingly risky proposition of vinifying wine
grapes. The massive crop of Concord grapes were destined for making jelly, soft
drinks or to be shipped in some form to California wineries for "pop wine"
production. The "American Wine Growers" had planted some vinifera grapes
in the 1950s. The first decade of production saw these grapes being blended with
Concord to produce "burgundy" and "port" wines.
San
Francisco Bay Area wine
writer Leon Adams ventured to Washington in 1966 and commented it was a shame to waste
such potentially fine fruit for such low quality wine. He was instrumental in
dragging the famous Napa Valley winemaker Andre Tchelistcheff to Washington. They
tasted the wines and gave the "thumbs down" to all. A home winemaker known
to Adams provided a sample of Gewürztraminer which shocked the daylights out of poor Mr.
Tchelistcheff. It was, to Tchelistcheff's taste, the finest Gewürztraminer in
America!
Encouraged by this one wine, Tchelistcheff accepted the challenge and sent along
instructions for growing the vinifera vines. Reducing the crop size was a major
revelation, for example.
The first vintages were 1967 and 1968 and Tchelistcheff and Adams returned to taste the
early results. These initial bottlings led to the booming industry that exists in
Washington State today.
"American Wine Growers" sold its Chateau Ste. Michelle winery to U.S. Tobacco
Company in 1974. Major sums of money were invested in new vineyards, new production
facilities and a new visitors center. Today there are nearly 100 wineries operating
in Washington State.
For years we've tasted through the wines which are "exported" to our market
here in the San Francisco Bay Area. Few wines were able to compete with those made
in Napa and Sonoma.
I remember tasting especially good Rosé made by Ste. Michelle from Grenache.
Thoroughly delicious; they managed to capture the raspberry notes of really good,
ripe, mature Grenache grapes in that wine. The market, apparently, didn't salute
that flag and it was dropped from the portfolio. Too bad they didn't know what to do
with it way back when!
Riesling has, typically, done well in Washington. Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc have
been good. Merlot was, initially, more attractive than Washington State Cabernet
Sauvignon wines. Pinot Noir hasn't worked out thus far. Syrah might turn out
to be a variety suited to Washington, though early efforts are priced as high as top Rhone
wines, but few offer anything especially distinctive or complex. Viognier seems as
possibly suited to the region. Barbera might be a good variety for Washington State,
but it seems nobody there is aware of this Italian grape variety.
We've seen a marked improvement in
the wines from Washington and a number of wineries have our respect as solid winemakers,
easily amongst the elite in America. In 1998 we conducted a blind-tasting of
Washington State "Clarets" (Cabernets, Merlots and blends of those
varieties). Seven of the eight wines were quite good. This tasting, coming on
the heels of a set of expensive Napa Valley (I know! You're thinking "That's
redundant!") Cabernets was very revealing. These wines were easily as
good as the top Napa wines. In fact, most tasters commented that in the Napa
tasting, only a few wines were of interest. In the Washington tasting, the top
four or five were terrific.
We still don't have a huge market for Washington State wines. Many of our customers
can't imagine any wine lacking the words "Napa Valley" on the label to be any
good. Others believe the sun shines brightest in France and only something made by a
guy name Pierre or some "Baron" to be worthy of putting on the dinner table.
Part of the problem has been Chateau Ste. Michelle. Being the largest producer,
many of their wines are the first Washington State bottlings many wine drinkers encounter.
As their entry level wines are nothing to write home about (sorry, Ste. Michelle, but
that's the truth), many people simply write off Washington altogether. Happily, even
Ste. Michelle is now making some fancy wines which compete with the small, artisan
producers, so we hope this situation is changing.
To those whose evaluation of Washington wines has been based on the most modest quality
wines, keep in mind those whose view of California viticulture is based on Paul Masson
carafes, Mondavi's Woodbridge jugs and Glen Ellen or Sutter Home's 187ml, twist-top
4packs! Until you've tasted some of the best wines of any region, please reserve
judgment.
For the few adventuresome souls who shop in our humble little wine emporium, we have
some exceptional Washington State wines for you.
Washington State has many viticultural areas.
COLUMBIA VALLEY is seen on many wine labels. It is a huge
area which includes smaller viticultural areas: YAKIMA VALLEY,
RED MOUNTAIN and
WALLA WALLA VALLEY.
The Columbia Valley encompasses most of Washington State's vineyards, as well
as a bit of Oregon (along the Columbia Gorge). It covers more than 16,000 acres.
Yakima is the "oldest" appellation. It is something like 75
miles long and features wine grapes as well as fruit-juice varieties. It
covers more than 11,000 acres presently.
Walla Walla is not terribly large, comprising but 1,200 acres of vineyards presently.
Growers in Walla Walla are asking the Federal government to expand the boundaries
of the appellation. My limited experience with this area suggests it seems to be the
home of a greater number of serious quality producers.
RED MOUNTAIN is the latest addition to the roster of Washington's
viticultural areas, comprising some 3,600 acres in the southeastern part of the
Yakima Valley. Something like 700 acres are planted presently, the first
vines being cultivated in 1975. The region takes it name not from red
soil, but a reddish-colored grass common in the area. It's not much of a
mountain, either. Elevations range from 500 to 1,500 feet. Klipsun,
Kiona, Hedges and Ciel du Cheval are all located within this district.
PUGET SOUND is a tiny appellation in western
Washington and there are something like 50
acres planted.
UP AND COMING Designations:
Columbia Basin, east of Yakima...you have three rivers coming together
here, the Columbia, Yakima and Snake Rivers.
Wahluke Slope is an area north of Yakima.
Columbia River Gorge runs along the hills of the Columbia River, the
famous Celilo vineyard being located there.
Horse Heaven Hills.
An interesting move is afoot. It's called the Washington
Wine Quality Alliance. One of its initiatives is to restrict the use of the word
"Reserve" on wine labels. As you may know, many California wineries (Glen
Ellen, Kendall Jackson, etc.) use the word "reserve" on just about every wine
they produce. The Washington definition would restrict the usage. No more than
10% of the production of a given type of wine or 3,000 cases (whichever is greater) may be
designated as "Reserve." The other feature of this notion is that
"reserve" must appear on higher-priced bottles of wine.
You won't find "Burgundy," "Chablis" or "Champagne" on
labels of Washington wines. California allows wineries to use the names of foreign
places on the labels of wines produced in The Golden State. You can bet Napa
winemakers wouldn't be thrilled with wineries in Europe using "Napa" or
"Stag's Leap" on French or Italian wines. Yet California allows its
producers to use the names of French and Italian wine regions on the labels of its wines!
Washington State says "no!" to this practice.
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