Chateau Ste. Michelle Winemaker Bob Bertheau Talks Washington Wine

Chateau Ste. Michelle is one of the largest and most revered wineries in America. Located in Washington's Columbia Valley, Chateau Ste. Michelle is often -and mistakenly- overlooked by oenophiles searching for fine American wine. It isn't often that one gets to "talk shop" with the winemaker from a winery of the caliber of Chateau Ste. Michelle -they tend to be awfully busy people after all- but IntoWine.com had the good fortune of being able to do just that. What follows is our chat with Chateau Ste. Michelle Winemaker Bob Bertheau.

What advantage does the climate and terroir of Columbia Valley bring to winemaking?

Quite a few distinct unique advantages to growing grapes in the Columbia Valley of Washington [exist]:

• Great northern latitude so we get a nice combination of warm, long summer days for good ripening BUT more importantly we get very short cool October days that allow for very nice end of season 'hangtime' to ripen the grapes without sugar accumulations going out of sight as well as holding our natural acidity and structure.
• Glacial swept soils that are generally very sandy and make the vines "struggle" for their existence, making for concentrated grapes with easy to control canopies.
• Very little rain during the growing season, allowing for more consistent harvests. We generally don't talk about a harvest being "good" or "bad", more about the harvest "personality."

What unique challenges does it pose?

• With the shorter, cooler days into late October, [there is] always a chance of the "storm doors" opening, allowing for angst towards the end of every season. One eye on weather.com and the other on how many tons of Cab (latest ripening variety) are left.
• Cold winters that can cause winter injury to susceptible varieties in susceptible locations.
• Slightly isolated, "pioneer" spirit is both a challenge AND an advantage in my estimation.