Great Northwest Wine
July 9, 2017
When most folks hear “Riesling” and “Washington” in the same sentence, they might automatically insert “Chateau Ste. Michelle.” And there would be nothing wrong with that, seeing that Washington’s oldest and largest winery makes more Riesling than any winery on the planet.
Since introducing the 1999 inaugural vintage of Eroica, Ste. Michelle has become the standard bearer for the American Riesling revolution. The Woodinville giant helped put Washington on the national wine stage when its 1972 Riesling was ranked No. 1 in a blind tasting conducted by the Los Angeles Times newspaper in 1974.
The fact is that most of the Riesling in Washington was planted to supply Ste. Michelle’s 1 million-plus cases of annual Riesling production, and thanks to Ste. Michelle, we know that cooler areas of the Columbia Valley – particularly the Yakima Valley and the Ancient Lakes of Columbia Valley – are superb for growing great Riesling.
And Ste. Michelle also should be considered responsible for setting the quality bar on Riesling, and that we think has encouraged other Washington producers to make small amounts of Riesling. And that’s a trend we applaud. By our count, at least 75 different Washington wineries make Riesling. It’s a cool deal that so many winemakers are making Riesling – often in artisan-level amounts>>>Read entire article featuring more Armstrong Family Winery Riesling and more on Great Northwest Wine