Chateau Ste. Michelle

So, by now you know that we’re spending the summer in Enumclaw, Washington and Shawn is flying Balloons here. Did I mention that my travel assignment is up in Seattle, at University of Washington Medical Center? Only like a 48-mile commute, each way… totally doable right!? Hello, have you ever actually driven in Seattle!? Do you know anything about the parking [or I should say non-parking] situation up there!? I worked M-W-F for 12-hour [mid] shifts, so like 9am-9pm. The drive home wasn’t completely horrible, and I ended up surviving the 13 weeks, but you’d have thought I would have learned something when I did the Colorado Springs to Denver commute!! HA!!

As you all know, there are good and bad aspects to all things. I mean I did learn a lot at the University Hospital, but the best part was meeting some of the people here. I hope you remember my travel nurse friend, Amy Hollander; I first introduced her back in my Jerome, AZ blog. Well, University of Washington is where I first met her. We worked the same shift, and she actually oriented me for my first couple days. Good times… and we discovered that we were kindred wine spirits!! We were always looking for adventures so "winenot" combine an adventure and wine at the acclaimed Chateau Ste. Michelle!?

You may ask yourself why I say Chateau Ste. Michelle is acclaimed?? It is so illustrious because of its long eventful history, [which we’ll get to in sec] and its reputation for making high quality wines. I also wondered why it was "Ste." Michelle and not "St" Michelle [like spell check always tries to change it to. LOL] Turns out that "Ste." is the French abbreviation for Saint, while "St" is the American abbreviation. It is also the oldest winery in Washington State!! Frederick Stimson, a lumber mogul, bought 250+ acres in Woodinville, WA back in 1912!! It was a holly tree farm then, but this purchase is what laid the foundation for the winery.

Jumping ahead several decades, around the end of Prohibition in 1934, the winery emerged as the National Wine Company. Then in 1954 they merged with the Pomerelle Wine Company and changed the name yet again, to the American Wine Company. This merger made them the largest wine company in the country!! In 1967, André Tchelistcheff, a Russian immigrant and winegrower, came on as a wine consultant. He created several varietals of wine and called them the Ste. Michelle Vinters line. The American Wine Compony was then renamed Chateau Ste. Michelle in 1976, and now you know the rest of the story!! LOL

Today, Chateau Ste. Michelle produces somewhere in the neighborhood of 42 million bottles of wine annually!! I believe they have proven that “great wine can only come from Italy or California” is totally FALSE. [Hehe] You can visit and walk around to explore the grounds on your own, but we decided to take a guided tour. We thought it would be fun to learn more about the winery from someone who actually knows some history!! We picked the Grand Estate Tour and Tasting, because it had the most wine tastings!! [Haha] We would walk a little, stop to learn about the area, taste some wine, and then move to the next spot.

I will say it was quite interesting, and our guide was pretty knowledgeable. However, I remember thinking I wish he would pour us our wine... you know before he started his spiel, but instead we waited [impatiently] for him to be done so we could get more wine!! Haha!! We had a great time though [per our usual] and the grounds are absolutely stunning, as seen below. You can go on their website and take a virtual tour until you are able to visit in person!! After the tour we visited their amazing chateau visitor center and gift shop. I am pretty sure we also did another wine tasting...

Chateau Ste. Michelle is known for their summer concert series. They have a hosting live music on their beautiful concert field since 1984. From Jazz and blues to rock and contemporary music, they have hosted megastars such as James Taylor, The Beach Boys, Stevie Wonder, and John Legend, to name just a few!! It is easy to see that with all there is around this place to experience, that an hour can quickly turn into three. Just ask Shawn... he drove us there!! HA!!  

Oh... I forgot to mention that on the first stop of our tour we found an old pair of glasses laying on the ground. Amy, [of course] picked them up and put them on [see bonus photo below] and we have been passing them back and forth, vial mail or sneaking them into the others bag for years!! Hmmm.. I haven’t seen them in a while, I'm not even sure who has possession of them at this date and time!! I am going to have to check all my usual places to see if I have them!! Haha

Next week Steele and I discover another yet another beautiful vineyard, one that is way closer to us then Chateau Ste. Michelle!! If you want to learn more and find out what type of wine glass makes your wine taste better... then tune in!!

Cheers to you my wine loving friends, and TTFN!!