Everybody might guess correctly that California is the largest premium wine-producing state in America, but how many wine buffs know which state is No. 2? The answer is Washington, which boasts more than 250 commercial wineries and some 30,000 acres under vine. Located in the extreme northwest section of the country, Washington has two wine regions. The first, with only about 80 acres planted in vines, runs along the state’s rugged coast. The second, and by far the most important wine region, lies east of the imposing Cascade Mountain range.
East of the mountains, vines fill the landscape down the length of the state, fanning out in profusion along the California border, where the sky is huge and the rolling hills are virtually devoid of anything but vines and native grasses. But the good news for visitors to Seattle is that one doesn’t have to wander this far afield in search of top Washington wineries. The best vines may be growing miles away on the other side of the Cascades, but many of the state’s vintners truck their grapes over the mountains to their winemaking facilities and tasting rooms located within minutes of downtown Seattle.
Most of the couple of dozen wineries in the immediate vicinity of Seattle are modest operations, but a few giants stand out. Columbia Winery, for example, is one of the state’s largest producers.
Columbia was founded in 1962 by six wine-loving University of Washington professors and four of their friends (it was originally called Associated Vintners, but the name was changed in 1983). In 1975, the fledgling winery hired a winemaking star-on-the-rise named David Lake. Lake, a fourth-generation Canadian who was born and raised in England, is a Master of Wine, a title conferred upon candidates who pass a combination of both tasting and written tests that is widely considered the world’s most rigorous professional exam in the art and science of wine. After studying enology at the University of California at Davis, he went on to work at several facilities in California and Oregon before taking the job at Columbia Winery.
Lake, who has been dubbed “the Dean of Washington winemakers” by The Wine Spectator and Decanter, continues to this day not only to shape the course of winemaking at Columbia Winery, but he also has a profound influence on winemaking throughout the state. For example, Lake was the first in Washington to release a series of single-vineyard designated wines. In 1984 he launched Washington’s first varietal Pinot Gris, and in 1987 he introduced the state’s first Merlot/Cabernet Franc blend, “Milestone Merlot.”
Tasting Columbia’s 2000 Syrah recently, I was reminded that Lake proved to skeptics that Washington could produce competitive Syrah. Columbia’s Syrah is a full-throttled yet silky rendition of this Rhone grape, and while it may lack some of the “barnyard” quality often associated with wines from the Northern Rhone, its sumptuous texture and ripe berry flavors are indicative of the great potential for the future of Washington Syrah
Like Columbia Winery, Chateau Ste. Michelle is headquartered in Woodinville, a suburb on the edge of Seattle. The oldest winery in the state, St. Michelle’s roots go back to the mid-1930s, when it was founded under the name Washington Wine Company. In 1976, the firm bought an estate owned by lumber baron Frederick Stimson and converted the palatial house and gardens into a showplace “chateau” designated for winery tours and tastings (in 1980, Chateau Ste. Michelle was listed on the National Register of Historic Places).
Of the numerous wines made by Chateau Ste. Michelle, only whites are produced at the Woodinville site. Reds are made at the company’s Canoe Ridge Winery in the Columbia Valley east of the mountains (a significant landholder in the Columbia Valley, the state’s largest viticultural area, Chateau Ste. Michelle owns 3,400 acres of vineyards — more than 10 percent of Washington’s entire grape acreage).
Among Chateau Ste. Michelle’s many outstanding white wines, the crown jewel is undoubtedly its Cold Creek Vineyard Chardonnay. Situated on the Columbia River, Cold Creek Vineyard is, despite its name, an unusually warm site, whose meager soils yield fully ripe fruit that translates into wines with big, succulent flavors. Cold Creek Chardonnay is not only consistently superb vintage after vintage, but it also ages impressively (the 1996, for example, still has hints of fresh apple and pear underlying a honeyed facade). I am equally smitten by the mouth-filling layers of lush fruit in Cold Creek Merlot, and the long burst of cherry and raspberry flavors in the Cabernet.
Overlooking both Chateau Ste. Michelle and Columbia Winery from its 10-acre hilltop site is DeLille Cellars. This winery was founded in 1992 by five partners (including retired businessman Charles Lill and his son Greg). DeLille makes a score of outstanding wines, including Chaleur Estate White (a medium-bodied Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon blend with a beautiful finish), Harrison Hill Vineyard (an elegant, medium-bodied Bordeaux-style red with a silky texture), Doyenne (a beautifully concentrated and balanced Syrah) and Chaleur Estate, a classic Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc blend.
Quilceda Creek Vintners is located a bit further north of Seattle, in Snohomish. This entirely family-run, red-wine-only establishment, was founded by Alex Golitzin. Born in Paris during the early days of World War II, Golitzin and his parents emigrated after the war to California, where his uncle, Andre Tchelistcheff — the noted enologist instrumental in the flowering of the modern California wine industry — was winemaker at Napa’s Beaulieu Vineyard.
As a young man, Golitzin did not immediately follow in his legendary uncle’s footsteps. After earning a degree in chemical engineering from the University of California at Berkeley, he married his high school sweetheart and moved north to Washington to take a job with the Scott Paper Company, where he worked for 27 years.
In 1974, while Golitzin was still with Scott Paper, Uncle Andre helped him make his first barrel of Cabernet Sauvignon. He was clearly inspired by this initial winemaking experience, for a couple of years later Alex and Jeannette Golitzin bonded their own winery and produced their first commercial wine, Quilceda Creek 1979 Cabernet. As Quilceda Creek’s ardent admirers know, Golitzin would go on to make some of America’s most critically acclaimed wines.
In 1994 Golitzin retired from Scott Paper to devote himself full time to the winery. Today, he continues to oversee the business, while his son, Paul, serves as chief winemaker. When I recently tasted back through 10 years of Quilceda Creek Cabernet, I was impressed by both the overall high consistency and quality of the wines. The luscious 1994 is redolent of licorice and fennel, while the ’96 is hauntingly aromatic. The ’98 is characterized by underlying hints of leather and spice, the earthy ’97 finishes on a long note of dark cherries and the youthful ’97 delivers multiple layers of fresh cherries, berries and cassis.
Hedges Cellars, founded in the mid-1980s by Washington native Tom Hedges and his French-born wife Anne-Marie, also produces Cabernet-based wines that are full of character.
Its intensely aromatic Three Vineyards is brimming with cassis and plum flavors (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc go into the blend), while Columbia Valley (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Syrah) delivers a mouthful of supple wine that glides toward a finish of smooth tannins. Hedges Cellars Fume Chardonnay provides a fine, balanced, racy quaff that is an excellent match for the region’s shellfish.
One thing a visit to Seattle area wineries makes clear is that Washington’s wine production may be second in size to California’s, but the wines themselves take a back seat to no one. One oft-repeated sentiment in these parts is that Washington’s best wines fall somewhere between the jamminess of California wines and the earthiness of Europe’s — a balanced position that makes them unusually good food wines. See for yourself: pour a glass of, say, Columbia Winery Syrah, or Chateau Ste. Michelle Cold Creek Merlot. Inhale the alluring aromas, then take a sip of the wine, swirling the robust, fruity substance around in your mouth for a moment before swallowing. The wine is pretty pleasing, right? But now, pair it up with a slice of good, garlicky roast lamb and see how those flavors expand and dance around on your palate in perfect harmony.
