At the time, the idea was revolutionary: that Washington wine could be made from the same grape varieties, like cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay, or Riesling, that powered Europe’s best bottles.
The company we now know as Chateau Ste. Michelle was founded in 1967 on the audacious premise of using what the industry calls vinifera grapes, common in the Old World. It might seem to have been preordained now, but back then nearly all the wineries in Washington focused on fruit or fortified wine.
For more than 55 years since, Ste. Michelle has been Washington wine’s shining house on the hill. Hundreds of thousands of people throng
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