Word: chateau
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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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...
...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...
...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 Gewürztraminer 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 Gewürztraminer and, in an area best suited to cool-climate white varietals, a robust...
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 Fumé 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...
...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...