Ste. Michelle Plans Winery Near Tri Cities

BENTON CITY, WA-Ste. Michelle Wine Estates of Woodinville, WA, has signed a purchase agreement for 20 acres here on which it plans to build a winery and vineyard for its luxury red wine, Col Solare. The $6-million facility will be developed in partnership with the Antinori family of Tuscany, Italy.Ste. Michelle Wine Estates owns several wineries in Washington state, including Chateau Ste. Michelle, Northstar and Columbia Crest. “Our goal is to make Col Solare the equal of best wines in the world,” says Ste. Michelle president/CEO Ted Baseler. “We know from experience that to make the very best wine you must have a winery solely dedicated to it.”The property sits on the west-facing hillside of Red Mountain, not far from the Hedges Winery. The site was selected for its record of producing grapes used in some of the best wines in Washington, including Leonetti, Quilceda Creek, Hedges and DeLille Cellars. Col Solare also has been sourcing fruit from Red Mountain. The Col Solare winery, believed to be the largest European investment in the Washington wine industry, will feature a subterranean barrel room, fermenters built to winemakers’ specifications and an expansive courtyard. Ground breaking for the winery is planned for this summer, with the winery ready for the 2006 crush. The following phase would see a vineyard planted adjacent to the winery in 2007. Production will grow ultimately to 15,000 cases a year, according to Baseler.For Ste. Michelle Wine Estates, building a winery for Col Solare is part of a long-term strategy that Baseler began in 2000 when he assumed leadership of the company. That strategy, to invest in creating prized wines that bring notice to Washington state appellations, first was implemented in 2002 when the company built its state-of-the-art, limited-production winery in Walla Walla, Washington, for its Northstar Merlot.Chateau Ste. Michelle has been producing Col Solare with the Antinori family since 1995. The latest vintage, 2001, has received a number of high scores from various publications, including a “91″ from the Wine Spectator.