Washington's Bright New Wine

By Michael Demarest

From the Pacific Northwest, a challenge to California

Until about 15 years ago, Washington State vintners, if they could be called that, were known chiefly for syrupy wines made from fruit and berries. Thus corks popped across the state in October 1974 when a '72 Chateau Ste. Michelle Johannisberg Riesling from Federal Way, Wash., won first place in a blind tasting organized by the Los Angeles Times; it beat out 14 California Johannisberg Rieslings, three German wines and an Australian entry.

Scores of awards later, the bright newcomers from Washington are just beginning to attract a national following. The state is the second biggest U.S. producer (after California) of Vitis vinifera grapes, the classic European wine varieties. It has the climate, soil and available land to become a wine region of world repute. Says Robert Finigan, editor-publisher of the newsletter Private Guide to Wines: "Washington is now where California was ten years ago."

The wine-growing areas are mostly in the arid south-central part of the state, in the Yakima and Columbia valleys, just north of the 46th parallel (about the same latitude as Bordeaux and Burgundy). The vineyards are sheltered from the heavy rainfall in the western part of the state by the Cascade Mountains, much as Alsace is protected by the Vosges. During the growing season, the Washington vineyards enjoy cool nights and in June, 17 hours or more of not-too-intense sunlight daily, allowing the grapes to ripen with good sugar-acid balance. The fruit tends to be tarter and crisper than California's, with a more intense flavor and aroma and a more pronounced varietal character.

There are now 31 wineries in Washington, twice as many as in 1980, and their numbers are growing fast. Most are small family operations such as Yakima River Winery, Neuharth Winery and Leonetti Cellars, all of which have won awards in the past two years. The biggest by far is Chateau Ste. Michelle, owned by U.S. Tobacco Co., whose three wineries produced 1.25 million gal. last year; it plans to expand to 2.5 million gal. by 1987. By comparison, the Napa Valley's long-established Beaulieu Vineyards makes less than 1 million gal. a year.

It was Beaulieu's venerable Andre Tchelistcheff, at 81 the dean of American wine makers, who helped stir the ferment in Washington wines. In 1967, he chanced across some Gewuerztraminer, the spicy wine of Alsace, that had been made in a basement by the late Phil Church, a University of Washington professor. The sage of Beaulieu was astonished. "It was the best Gewuerztraminer produced in the U.S.," he recalls. Tchelistcheff then turned his attention to a fledgling winery that became Chateau Ste. Michelle. The race was on. Church and colleagues began marketing wines in 1969 as Associated Vintners, now the state's fourth biggest winery. Associated is noted for its bone dry '80 Gewuerztraminer and, in an area best suited to cool-climate white varietals, a robust '78 Pinot Noir. Hinzerling Vineyards, owned by Mike and Jerry Wallace, won a silver medal last year with its '78 Cabernet Sauvignon.

Preston Wine Cellars, east of the Columbia River, makes a fine Chardonnay, rich, buttery and well balanced. Flowery Traminers and Johannisberg Rieslings are made by Worden's Washington Winery, outside Spokane. Chateau Ste. Michelle's fresh, fruity, late-harvest Riesling, a subtle Sauvignon, and a spicy Fume Blanc are delightful by any standard; its reds include a consistently good Merlot. Last year the winery won five gold medals in an international competition in Milan.

The state's wine makers still have much to learn about the economies of expansion and the development of a distinctive style. "They just make what the grapes give them," says one critic. Joel Klein, a former wine maker for Chateau Ste. Michelle who is now organizing his own company, explains: "In California and Europe there are some fairly well-recognized guidelines for wine making. Up here we don't really know yet how best to make these wines." Comments Peter Bachman, Chateau Ste. Michelle's head wine maker: "You have to juggle with what nature gives you." Most experts admit they still do not know which vines will grow best in which areas. Says David Lake, 40, wine maker for Associated Vintners and holder of the prestigious European accreditation Master of Wine: "All of us are involved in experimentation. We are totally dependent on the wines to do what they will. The vineyards here are so young and inconsistent."

The climate and topography of Cold Creek, in south-central Washington, seem suitable for red wines, though the state's reds have yet to receive the acclaim earned by its whites. Wade Wolfe, 34, Chateau Ste. Michelle's overseer for vineyard operations, who has a Ph.D. in grape genetics from the University of California at Davis, thinks that this district may be good for Cabernets and Merlots. Says Tchelistcheff: "The reds are just starting to come up. They need more aging, more know-how, more sculpting by the wine maker." Washington needs to attract more such experts, as California has done so successfully; the state has no breeding ground of oenologists comparable to the U.C. Davis campus.

The young industry also requires greater capitalization, for both expanded production and more effective marketing; even in big cities, the wines are still hard to find. The land, the climate and the demand for good wine, however, are there. Within ten years, they vow in the valleys, Yakima and Columbia will be wine-cellar words.

--By Michael Demarest.

Reported by Deborah Peterson/Seattle

With reporting by Deborah Peterson This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.