;;important to us, and it’s been part of our culture from the beginning.” Throughout our conversation, Baseler often refers to other state producers as neighbors and friends, rather than com- petitors. In ;;;;, he even offered his “friends” grapes when Washington experienced a terrible freeze that took out many
smaller winemakers’ vineyards. “
Particularly in Washington, because it’s a fairly
new industry, we don’t have enemies,” he
says. “We have the bene;t of youth.”
String of pearls
Today, Ste. Michelle Wine Estates
owns nine other wineries (some are in
Oregon and California) besides Chateau
Ste. Michelle: Columbia Crest, Conn
Creek, Patz & Hall, Erath, Spring Valley
Vineyard, Col Solare, Stags’ Leap Wine
Cellars, Northstar and ;; Hands (Col
Solare and Stags’ Leap are jointly owned).
It also imports wine from four others in
Europe: Antinori, Torres, Villa Maria and
Champagne Nicolas Feuillatte. The com-
pany refers to these acquisitions and
imports as its “string of pearls.”
Baseler says it was important to him
not to interfere with the quality of the
winemaking at any of the pearls, as their
original products are what made them
attractive partners from the beginning.
The pearls share many “back of the house”
functions with CSM, such as marketing,
human resources and accounting, but oth-
erwise operate independently.
The next 50 years
Baseler and CSM head winemaker,
Bob Bertheau, say investing in education
is critical to sustaining and growing the
future of Washington’s wine industry.
That’s why CSM is heavily invested in
Washington State University’s (WSU) viticulture and enology program. The company often hires graduates of the program.
Similarly, proceeds from the winery’s
acclaimed Summer Concert Series, which
features acts such as Stevie Wonder, Bob
Dylan and John Legend, support the
Chateau Ste. Michelle Scholarship Fund, a
four-year scholarship for underserved students in Washington, many of whom are
the children of agricultural workers.
CSM is also investing in the quality of
the land. Its Cold Creek and Canoe Ridge
Estate vineyards in eastern Washington
are Salmon-Safe, a certi;cation that ensures speci;c practices are followed to protect salmon in nearby water systems from
potentially harmful vineyard runo;. They
are also LIVE Certi;ed, meeting rigorous
criteria that ensure the winery and its
practices are as sustainable and cause as
little environmental impact as possible.
These investments are crucial; Baseler
projects that Washington is on its way to
becoming the next Napa. He estimates the
state could outgrow California in premi-um-grade grapes in about ;; years. “It’s
not going to happen overnight, but potentially—based on the availability of land
in eastern Washington, water, suitable
sites—someday it could be bigger than
California,” he says.
Even if your glass isn’t filled with a
wine from Chateau Ste. Michelle or one of
its pearls, Baseler wants you to ;ll it with
something from Washington. “Every bottle of Washington wine is an ad for Washington state,” he says. “That’s why we need
all Washington wines to be good, and
that’s why the WSU Center is very important. That way, everybody can take pride in
the wines of the region.” C
WELL-AGED WINERY
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 33
;
WHAT GOES INTO A BOTTLE OF WINE?
BOB BERTHEAU, Chateau Ste. Michelle’s
(CSM) head wine maker,
was on his way to
Washington’s historic
Cold Creek Vineyard
when he caught up
with The Connection
by phone.
The Costco Connection: What characteristics or standards do you look to
accomplish in each bottle of CSM wine?
Bob Bertheau: Number one, we try to
accomplish what I call mouthfeel. We can
all smell violets and spices and things in
the wine, but if you don’t enjoy the sensation of the wine in your mouth, on your
palate, then everything else is secondary.
CC: Ted [Baseler, CEO and president]
mentioned that you and the rest of the
winemaking team are the best winemakers
CSM has ever had. How has your approach
changed from previous winemakers’?
BB: We have so much technical talent
and skill in the company. What
I look for first is a team-fitting
personality and just positive
energy. It’s probably my No. 1
trait I look for. We can all make
wine together, and we can all
decide on blends and all the hard
work during harvest, but if you
don’t enjoy who you’re with and
have a positive attitude, to me
it makes everything go uphill.
Then number two is a passion. We have to have a passion for wine, and I think if
you interview anybody on
our team, you’ll see that
same level of energy and
passion that we have for
Washington state [is] No. 1,
but then Chateau Ste. Michelle
[is No. 2] in terms of a brand.
We know we have to sell our
state. A bad bottle of Washington wine looks bad on all of us.
CC: What sorts of practices
help you achieve consistency in
taste and in your reputation?
BB: Really it’s about the relationships and
communication we have with our growers,
including our own estate teams, to make
sure we have the right varieties planted in
the right spots and that all the grapes are
being well tended and [we are] as consistent
and quality oriented as possible.
CC: What inspires you to innovate
under the Chateau Ste. Michelle brand?
BB: We have a saying in the winery, “A
lot without an experiment is a lost opportunity.” We will always keep striving to try
things differently, as I think that it's incumbent upon my team to keep learning about
the fruit and the winemaking techniques.
It’s interesting, and it keeps people fresh.
As an example, we have found a totally
different style of wine in concrete fermenters. And, honestly, I was a little skeptical,
but I’m never one to not try something. As
it turns out, the concrete makes the wine
fruitier, with a lighter palate. We have all
different styles of fermenters.
Continuing on the red innovation, we
have a whole different style of destemmer
that is much more gentle, and what’s called
an optic sorter, where a computer optically
sorts the fruit to make sure anything that’s
not perfect is kicked out.
It’s a combination of tradition, yet not
being afraid to look at technology, ideas and
innovations that can make better wines first
and possibly the job a little easier.
CC: Anything else you’d like to share?
BB: The biggest compliment I get
from consumers, especially regard-
ing wines bought at Costco, are
that people trust our wine and our
brand no matter what variety and
price point. They know they’re
going to get a good, solid bottle
that they can enjoy. And to me,
that’s the most important state-
ment of the brand. It’s the level
of trust that the consumer has.
Whether it be a riesling at $7
or our Artist Series at $60,
they know they’re going to
get a great bottle of wine at
that price. That’s still our
No. 1 story.—HM
K
EVI
N
CR
U
FF
Bob Bertheau
We have so much technical talent
trait I look for. We can all make
work during harvest, but if you
sion. We have to have a pas-ton wine looks bad on all of us.
have a whole different style of destemmer
that is much more gentle, and what’s called
an optic sorter, where a computer optically
sorts the fruit to make sure anything that’s
not perfect is kicked out.
It’s a combination of tradition, yet not
being afraid to look at technology, ideas and
innovations that can make better wines first
and possibly the job a little easier.
CC:
from consumers, especially regard-
C
H
ATE
A
U
ST
E
.
MIC
H
ELLE