Every bottle tells a story

I'm obsessed with wine. I think about it, talk about it, and I’m around it all-day every day. I make wine. My wife is a winemaker. My best friends make wine for a living. My former college roommates make wine for a living. I live in wine country. I drink wine. You get the idea.?And as a wine-obsessed person I understand its appeal. Each bottle tells a story.

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And like any story, there are characters, plots, settings, tone, and perspective. A wine’s story can be informed by the place where the wines are made, but also (and perhaps most importantly), by the people whose hands guide the grapes from vine to the bottle.?While good wines most certainly begin in the vineyards, it takes the hands of many individuals, and sometimes teams, to guide the narrative, ending with the wine that ultimately passes our lips. These are stories of nature, science, culture, art, and certainly the human experience.

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Perhaps that’s why every time I walk into a winery, I immediately start to read the vibe. What story will the wines tell?

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In my current role, I find myself stupidly lucky. I get to visit some of the most amazing and uniquely diverse wine estates in the United States: the portfolio of wines of Ste. Michelle Wine Estates. The portfolio includes six wineries in Washington, three in Oregon, and three more in California. This diversity of place affords me an opportunity to observe and interpret how people and techniques impact the expression of these various terroirs and the stories which they ultimately write.

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But it’s not only the geographical location and vineyards which lend to the plot line, it’s also the character profile of the wineries themselves. Working with boutique wineries, such as Spring Valley Vineyards on one end of the spectrum, and a multi-million case producer like Chateau Ste. Michelle on the other, have given me a unique perspective into the influence winemaking scale imparts to the overall story – and you might be surprised.

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Today, let’s look at the larger producers as an example – because often they are the most misjudged. If we were to break this down through literary analysis, the main character may appear to be a large corporation or “big business” on the outside; but it must be noted, at its core, every winery is a business. And profit margins aside, it’s the inner pages that tell the more nuanced story with a plethora of adventures.

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The Setting

Naturally, this story begins in the vineyards. Here the grape selection options are as numerous as the terroirs and viticulture management techniques. Winemakers working at larger facilities have the ability (and necessity) to utilize more grapes, and hence they have an opportunity to see more varieties from more appellations, cultivated by different growers, trellis systems, clones, etc. This exposure opens both a world of possibilities and experiences, training the palate to dive deeply into what makes each variety successful. In any given year, a winemaker can then guide the entire arch of a grape variety’s character development – allowing for expressions of varying tones – subtle, bold, vibrant, or stoic.

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Plot Devices

Once the grapes are moved to the winery, a winemaker continues their influence – even where “minimal intervention” is the norm. A larger-scale winery has the resources to utilize a vast array of equipment and tools. From optical sorters to the type of fermentation/maturation vessels used, a more well-funded winery can put technology and modern winemaking to work. And it’s not just the type of vessels – oak, stainless steel, concrete, clay, etc. – it’s also the diversity of vessel shapes, all of which impact the development of the wine from cubes and pyramids to tulips and eggs.

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Characters

And don’t forget about the many supporting characters and their role in the story – beyond the winemakers - the farmers, the production assistants, cellar assistants, harvest interns, etc. Wineries like 14 Hands, or Columbia Crest can attract talented people, offering them vast learning opportunities. And perhaps what’s most notable, they can then also retain that talent. The head winemakers at 14 hands, Chateau Ste. Michelle, and Columbia Crest as examples have made wine with Ste. Michelle Wine Estates for 29, 23, and 15 years respectively. And there’s countless others that after spending a decade or more learning and gaining experience, go on to then begin their own winemaking businesses – telling their own stories. We have a strong community of talent and a wide range of stories that otherwise would perhaps not be possible.

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Story Climax

Each of the aforementioned settings, plot devices, and characters all build-up to the plot’s climax. And for us it culminates in the final process of guiding the wine through to the bottle. Every winter, for example, our winemaking teams, alongside our annual guest of honor and Riesling aficionado, Ernie Loosen, taste the hundreds of Rieslings in vinification – from different vineyards, clones, etc. We match the philosophy of the brand with the character of each Riesling to best determine the blend which will become that year's?Eroica Riesling. The result is a blend that perfectly matches our expectations, and which is based on having at our disposal, every possible iteration of that variety that year.?

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Another story example is the making of our Intrinsic wine. When we first made this wine, we left the red grapes on their skins for 9 months. This admittedly is a little risky, normal being weeks not months, and experimenting with 25 tons of highly sought-after Washington Cabernet Sauvignon is even more of a risk. But when the number of 25-ton fermenters is in the dozens, or even hundreds, risking one for a crazy trial no longer seems out of bounds. Can a smaller winery take such a risk? Absolutely. But a larger winery can afford more trial and error. Fortunately for us, the result of that experiment was our Intrinsic line, and with it a whole new way to express the uniqueness of Washington Cabernet.

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Resolution

The moral here? Every bottle has a story – and a plot arch from vine to bottle. Perhaps one of the most rewarding conclusions to one of our stories was the 2005 Columbia Crest Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. To this day that wine remains the only Washington wine to have received Wine Spectator’s wine of the year designation. I was part of the red winemaking team at Columbia Crest that year, and could we have made that wine if our winemaking was small scale? Yes, most likely. But our winemaking that year was also informed by the other thousands of tons of Cabernet crushed at Columbia Crest, meaning we had the opportunity to evaluate every possible plot line that year. It's a privilege not many winemakers can capitalize on, and one could argue that was integral in the ultimate accolade.

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The complexity of wine starts with the grapes, and the talent and passion of teams in the vineyards. It then continues through the dedication of the people guiding the making in the cellar – be they large or small. But for the former, the tools and resources available allow for an environment conducive to creativity, an environment where experimental risk-taking is the norm, a place for passionate makers and creators to thrive, and an environment where great wines are made. The beauty of these wineries is that they create complex, interesting wines that are available everywhere and to everyone. And that is a story worth sharing.