Chateau Ste. Michelle is Washington State's oldest winery, located in

Woodinville, Washington Woodinville is a city in King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington, United States. It is a part of the Seattle metropolitan area. There is also a much larger population with Woodinville mailing addresses in adjacent uni ...

, near Seattle. It produces Chardonnay, Cabernet, Merlot, and Riesling, and has winemaking partnerships with two vintners: Col Solare is an alliance with Tuscany's Piero Antinori and Eroica Riesling is a partnership with the Mosel's Ernst Loosen. Chateau Ste. Michelle was selected as ''

Wine Enthusiast ''Wine Enthusiast'' magazine is an American wine magazine published by Wine Enthusiast Companies in Valhalla, New York. Founded in 1979 by Adam and Sybil Strum, Wine Enthusiast Companies engages in the wine accessories, storage, information, educat ...

'' magazine's 2004 American Winery of the Year. It was owned by

Altria Altria Group, Inc. (previously known as Philip Morris Companies, Inc.) is an American corporation and one of the world's largest producers and marketers of tobacco, cigarettes and related products. It operates worldwide and is headquartered in ...

(formerly known as Phillip Morris), and then sold to the private equity firm

Sycamore Partners Sycamore Partners is a private equity firm based in New York specializing in retail and consumer investments. The firm has approximately $10 billion in aggregate committed capital. History Founding Sycamore Partners was founded in 2011 by Stefa ...

in 2021.

History

Chateau Ste. Michelle is the oldest winery in Washington state. It was founded as the American Wine Company, a 1954

merger Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspect ...

of the National Wine Company (NAWICO), founded in 1934, and the Pomerelle Wine Company. (For years, there was a large neon sign advertising NAWICO in Seattle's Wallingford neighborhood.) The

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

-style chateau is located on of land with mature trees that once belonged to

lumber baron A business magnate, also known as a tycoon, is a person who has achieved immense wealth through the ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term characteristically refers to a powerful entrepreneur or investor who controls, through perso ...

Frederick Stimson, who used it as a

hunting Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

retreat and rural working

farm A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used fo ...

called the

Hollywood Farm Hollywood Farm was a 206-acre dairy farm in the Sammamish Valley, approximately 25 miles northeast of Seattle. It was built in 1910 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. With The property is now occupied by the Chateau St ...

. The property was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. With Over the years, many Washington winemakers have gotten their start working for Chateau Ste. Michelle, these include

Kay Simon Kay Simon (born 9 July 1978) is a German slalom canoeist who competed at the international level from 1995 to 2008. He won four medals in the C2 team event at the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships with three silvers (2002, 2003, 2006) and a ...

of Chinook Wines, which she co-founded with her husband Clay Mackey who also worked as a vineyard manager for Chateau Ste. Michelle.

Wines

Chateau Ste. Michelle produces over 8,000,000 cases of

Riesling Riesling (, ; ) is a white grape variety that originated in the Rhine region. Riesling is an aromatic grape variety displaying flowery, almost perfumed, aromas as well as high acidity. It is used to make dry, semi-sweet, sweet, and sparkling wh ...

wine per year. The winery owns several estate vineyards in

Eastern Washington Eastern Washington is the region of the U.S. state of Washington located east of the Cascade Range. It contains the city of Spokane (the second largest city in the state), the Tri-Cities, the Columbia River and the Grand Coulee Dam, the Hanfor ...

including the Canoe Ridge vineyard in the

Horse Heaven Hills AVA The Horse Heaven Hills AVA is an American Viticultural Area in southeastern Washington, and is part of the larger Columbia Valley AVA. The Horse Heaven Hills AVA borders the Yakima Valley AVA on the north and the Columbia River on the south ...

, the Cold Creek vineyard and Indian Wells vineyards in the

Columbia Valley AVA The Columbia Valley AVA is an American Viticultural Area which lies in the Columbia River Plateau, through much of central and southern Washington State, with a small section crossing into the neighboring state of Oregon. The AVA includes the d ...

.S. Roberts ''Wine Trails of Washington'' p. 140, South Slope Productions 2007 With the 2022 harvest, Chateau Ste. Michelle moved its white wine production from Woodinville to its facilities in eastern Washington to reduce freight trips and use of diesel fuel.

Activities

On the grounds of the winery is an

amphitheater An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both ) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ...

where outdoor concerts are performed in the summer.

References

External links

*
History and information at vintners.net
including photographs, oral histories, digitized newspaper articles and documents from the union organizing drive and ensuing international boycott of Chateau St. Michelle during the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Rosalinda Guillen and Joseph Moore Papers.
- Court Case Documents, Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery Picket, Joseph Moore Speeding Ticket {{Authority control Wineries in Woodinville, Washington American companies established in 1954 Agriculture companies established in 1954 1954 establishments in Washington (state) Food and drink companies established in 1954

History

Wines

Activities

See also

References

External links