WineCOW.com - A Good Place for Great Washington Wine

Chateau Ste. Michelle is the oldest, and one of the largest, wineries in Washington State. They are recognized for pioneering vinifera grape varietals (wine grapes) grown in the Columbia Valley and are a leader in modern day viticulture research. Well known for their highly acclaimed white wines including Chardonnay and Riesling, as well as a selection of delicious reds, CSM has received some of the highest accolades in the industry. These include “American Winery of the Year 2004” from Wine Enthusiast Magazine and “2005 Winery of the Year” by Restaurant Wine Magazine. They have also been listed 12 times in Wine & Spirits Top 100 Wineries of the Year. A pretty incredible accomplishment given that only five other wineries have faired as well, and no other Washington winery has even made the list more than five times.

This of course is all very impressive, but nothing that you haven’t already heard before. So, in order to give you a better glimpse into Chateau Ste. Michelle, this month’s featured winery, we solicited the help of assistant winemaker Brennon Leighton.

We were compelled to meet Brennon because people from around the industry kept telling us that we’d be interested in meeting this young, fun and unique winemaker. So, while gathering material for our recent feature article “Washington’s Friendly Wine Giant: A 50-week retrospective of CSM and their 30 years of influence in the Washington Wine Industry,” we were able to sit down and spend some time getting to know Brennon and the role he plays in shaping the future of one of Washington’s most influential wineries.

Brennon is definitely not what you would expect from such a large, outwardly conservative winery as Chateau Ste. Michelle. With a multitude of tattoos and sporting a goatee he certainly fits the role of a Seattleite, but you would probably expect to see him in the music scene instead of the wine industry. But looks can be deceiving, because while Brennon might not be what you’d expect from one of the largest wineries in the state, he has one of the sharpest minds we’ve come across during our promotion of the Washington wine industry. With a whimsical sense of humor, this educated and skilled winemaker has been crafting the world famous CSM white wines where he specializes, as well as several other great CSM wines.

Actually in many ways Brennon is very much like the winery for which he works - unexpected. You wouldn’t expect a winery of such grand scale to make some of the great wines that they do. But it’s what’s on the inside that counts and both Brennon and CSM are working behind the scenes to create some of Washington’s best wines.

We met up with Brennon (whose official title is CSM’s Assistant Winemaker) at their facility where he toured us around, answered a slew of questions and educated us on some of their quality control processes that he was working on that day.

WC: Being originally from California, what brought you to Washington?
BL: “I played guitar in a band, but I sucked!”

Originally moving here from California to be in a band, Brennon quickly realized he actually hated being in a band and so he took a job in the restaurant industry. It was at the Brooklyn restaurant in downtown Seattle that Brennon really fell in love with wine and decided to pursue a career in the wine industry. “I wanted to get into winemaking so I started looking around.” A job opening eventually led him to CSM where Eric Olsen, the assistant winemaker to Mike Januik, told him he needed to go to school at UC Davis and then come back if he was serious. So Brennon enrolled at UC Davis and after getting his four-year degree headed back to Seattle and CSM in 2002. At that point Eric Olsen had become the head winemaker, and true to his word gave Brennon a job.

WC: What made you decide to stay and make wine in Washington?
BL: “I want to be part of something that is about to explode.”

After graduating from UC Davis Brennon’s plan was to start making wine in Washington but then return to California. “I planned to start here for a couple years and then go back to California to make wine.” He realized there was great potential in Washington state for producing quality wine but Washington was lacking “the know how and vineyard management techniques of California.” “At first I thought Washington was a little backwards, but I knew the wines and the grapes were special so I had to stay.” So instead of going back to California and doing things that have already been done, Brennon decided to stay in Washington and be a part of a rapidly growing industry.
Brennon realizes the potential for Washington as a world-class producer of premium wines but believes that the state is still trying to find its identity. “Once Washington is done trying to be like everybody else and focuses on what makes them unique and great they will break out.” When this happens is when Brennon believes the wine industry in Washington will really explode. “We need to stop trying to compare ourselves and pushing our wines to be like Californian or French wines because we are not going to get a gut-buster Cali cab or an earthy French Bordeaux; but the elegance of combining both is what Washington excels at, that is where we make the best wines.”

WC: Do you think working on such a large-scale production as you do at CSM lessons the quality of the wine?
BL: “I make all wines like they’re boutique wines, the biggest tanks here are not so big that I can’t control them.”

While many people may think that producing wines at large quantities may potentially hurt or limit the quality of the wine Brennon believes the opposite. Actually a large operation offers a great benefit in having a lot of grapes to choose from. “When I go to make the wines, I have so much to choose from, so if one vineyard doesn’t work out it’s not as big of a deal as if that was our only vineyard.” This is not the case for most of the state’s smaller producers who have a more limited selection. Due to CSM’s extensive vineyard holdings they have the ability to pick the best grapes from the top producing locations.

WC: What does it take to make a high quality wine?
BL: “It’s not black and white. There is no best way. Each style has its own pros and cons.”

Brennon thinks you can point out benefits for hand crafting wines, and just as many for using technology to craft your wines. “One thing that I think is really important however is hand-sorting the fruit.” In order to get out all of the stems and leaves that can hurt the overall quality of a wine.

WC: Would you say that going through a program like UC Davis is required in order to be a good winemaker?
BL: “You can’t become a great winemaker by going to UC Davis, but the foundation you get there is invaluable.”

According to Brennon, two things are necessary in order to be a great winemaker. “A great winemaker has to have a great palate.” You must have a distinct understanding of what you like and knowing how you want to get there. “They have to know and understand the style of wine they want to make.” Then in order to make that wine a winemaker must have a science background to help make the necessary decisions in order to get there. It’s “due to a lack of science understanding” that Brennon believes is one reason why Washington wines can be so inconsistent. “Understanding why you’re doing something is more important than doing it and that’s the benefit of education.” As his dad used to say “the best educated artists make the best artists.” And the same thing goes with an educated winemaker.

WC: So, coming from a winemaker, what makes wine truly great?
BL: “The greatest things in the world are flawed – perfectly flawed. If a wine is perfect it’s boring.”

But today there is much more emphasis being placed on trying to make a wine that is perfect. “We’re in a cocktail generation in which opulent wines are made to drink on their own.” But Brennon believes that part of wines romance comes from its relationship with food. “Wine is meant to sit down and be enjoyed with family and friends over food. Unfortunately the romance of wine often gets over marketed and then it becomes bullshit and just a lie.”
When people slow down and really take the time to appreciate wine, all wines, that they can really appreciate this. According to Brennon, wine drinkers often go through three phases of wine drinking. First, the white, pink and sweet wine stage. Then they move on to big, jammy blockbuster reds. I’m sure you have all come across these too cool for school “I only drink reds” kind of people. After this stage however they often go back and rediscover the value of whites. “It is after this somehow inherent evolution in wine drinking that people arrive at a place where they enjoy reds and whites and the greatness of both.”
There are several Washington winemakers that Brennon believes are not so interested in making a perfect wine but instead their trying to make a great wine. These include DeLille’s assistant winemaker Chris Peterson and Mark McNeilly of Mark Ryan Winery.

As a parting question we asked Brennon to share with us which Chateau Ste. Michelle wines he considered to be his favorite:
• 2004 Canoe Ridge Chardonnay – “Elegant and Sophistictated”
• 2004 Ethos Merlot (not yet released)

Brennon’s work at Chateau Ste. Michelle has really helped to shape the future of the winery. He really has a great insight and perspective into wine, winemaking, and the wine industry and I’m sure he and CSM will continue to lead Washington’s evolution toward world-class wines for many years to come.

FEATURED WASHINGTON WINERIES

FEATURED WASHINGTON WINERY

CHATEAU STE. MICHELLE - WOODINVILLE, WA