Washington wine is changing as never before. Our specialist sets the scene – just as she did for the very different winemaking culture of Oregon.
Elaine Chukan Brown and I recently packed our bags and headed north to Washington State for a week. It was a chance to acquaint myself with the geography of its (sometimes giant) AVAs, the soils, the producers, the wines and, more than I expected, the structure of the industry.
Much of the past and present of the Washington wine industry is Ste Michelle Wine Estates, headquartered west of the Cascade Mountains in the suburbs...