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WASHINGTON'S FRIENDLY WINE GIANT:
 A 50-week retrospective of CSM and their 30 years of influence in the Washington Wine Industry
Chateau Ste. Michelle recently celebrated the 30th anniversary of their winery in Woodinville, WA, which was originally built in 1976 for a mere $6 million. We say “mere” because today homes pop-up all around the Puget Sound with price tags of at least that much. But, 30 years ago this was quite the expense for a winery in a state where the industry itself had been struggling. California wines were flooding into Washington and stifling the sales of its five local wineries: Ste. Michelle, Associated Vintners (now Columbia Winery), Puyallup Valley Winery, Alhambra Wine Co. and Bingen Wine Cellars. The construction of this facility actually led to the turning point in the Washington wine industry from a focus on generic table wine and sweet fortified options, to the production of higher end wines of quality and distinction.
It’s hard to imagine that Chateau Ste. Michelle (of course the “Chateau” was added to their name after the new facility) was the initiator of high quality wine in Washington State. Especially when you think that today much of the focus in Washington is put on the small boutique wineries that have been pumping out large scores from their small production lots. With the preference of most wine enthusiasts leaning toward these small production wines, sometimes the big boys of the Washington Wine Industry get a bad rap. They are often seen as mass producers who care more about quantity than quality in their efforts to claim market share by offering low prices and in doing so driving out the little guy. This may be true of some larger wineries; such as those who brought us the crowd-pleasing jug wines, but CSM has always been a proponent of high quality wine in Washington and supported the state’s continued growth on all levels, both large and small.
Originally, when WineCOW was just getting started, we were just as guilty for ignoring the important contributions that CSM provided to the Washington wine industry. Instead we saw ourselves as promoter and protectorate of the little guy winery. While we didn’t openly discredit CSM for their efforts, we did focus on the up and coming boutique wineries of Washington State while staying ignorant of the true effort being put forth by Ste. Michelle to further the growth of the industry. Since then however, our views have dramatically changed, so as we move toward the end of 2006 we wanted to pay our respects to one of the most influential and pivotal wineries of Washington State as we look back in a retrospective of CSM in the last 50 weeks, according to WineCOW.com.
 It was just under a year ago, shortly after the launch of WineCOW.com, that we had our first contact with the Washington wine juggernaut. We were attending the Grand Tasting in New York, an event put on by Wine Spectator showcasing their top scoring wines of the past year. As we weaved through the traffic and tasted wines from some of the best wineries in the world two Washington wineries/winemakers stood out beyond the rest. One was Columbia Crest winemaker Ray Einberger who’s heavy handed pour and laid back attitude made us instant fans of CC’s high quality reds. The other was CSM winemaker Bob Bertheau, who was very appreciative of our efforts in promoting Washington wine and added a “don’t count us out”, in reference to our focus on smaller wineries. Their down to earth attitude and efforts in promoting the Washington wine industry definitely made us rethink our stance on just promoting smaller wineries.
 Shortly after the New York event, we received a call from former CSM communications advisor Ragan Olczak encouraging WineCOW to come down to the Chateau for a tasting. Naturally since this involved a couple hours of drinking wine we were in, but we went to the tasting expecting a stuffy, corporate, simple tasting of maybe a couple reds and a couple whites. What we got was a three-hour tasting of their entire collection paired with great foods and entertaining conversion from former CSM National Wine Educator, Jonathan Ferrera-Grand. Included were wines from Domaine Ste. Michelle, Columbia Crest, Col Solare, Snoqualmie, Eroica, CSM, and more. With each wine we were encouraged to try them with different foods while enjoying Jonathan’s wine “edutainment” all night.
We came out of this tasting amended and educated about the many great wines offered by Ste. Michelle and the substantial amount of effort they put forth in helping and promoting the Washington wine industry. The people working there aren’t bad either. While gaining an appreciation for the winery, wine and people we also recognized another valuable lesson. Despite the enormity of CSM and their influence in the state of Washington, they are still a very down to earth and approachable winery. This fact may be lost in many of the other big wineries across the country, but in Washington State even the big “Wine Giant” can be friendly.
 Most recently we had the opportunity to meet with CSM assistant winemaker Brennon Leighton. Brennon is definitely not your cookie cutter corporate winemaker. If anything he may be the anti-winemaker in looks, but a wine specialist in talent and mind. He uses a combination of education, experience, experiment, and artistic license to craft some of CSM’s more enjoyable wines. Brennon shared with us how they are able to take such large quantity and still craft quality wines. “I make all wines like they’re boutique wines, the biggest tanks here are not so big that I can’t control them.” He went on to explain how having such a large operation offers a great benefit in having a lot of grapes to chose from. “When I go to make the wines, I have so much to choose from that if one vineyard doesn’t work out, it’s not as big of a deal as if that was our only vineyard.” The result is a well-crafted wine with personality and enjoyable flavor – the whole package.
 Over the past 30 years, Chateau Ste. Michelle has played a crucial role in helping to grow Washington’s wine industry and improve the overall quality of its vineyards and winemaking practices. And through such efforts they have helped to put Washington on the map as a world-class producer of premium wines. So, while you’re enjoying those small production boutique wines that Washington is now becoming famous for, don’t forget about the friendly giant who helped pave the way. For it has definitely made our job easier over the past 50 weeks in promoting Washington wine. So, with great appreciation we say thank you CSM for all of your efforts in helping to shape the future of the growing Washington wine industry.
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