Chateau Ste Michelle makes
some the Pacific Northwest's most popular wines. Chateau Ste. Michelle's
winemakers produce an array of highly rated, well priced red and white
wines that have garnered scores of national and international awards.
This month we have a number of the Chateau Ste
Michelle wines at great prices. Check out the Indian Wells Merlot, elsewhere
on the web at $35!
“The
Northwest Welcomes Back
Native Son Bob Bertheau”
“ Winemaker tapped to produce
white wine at Chateau Ste. Michelle”
Bill Bertheau in the Cellar
|
By Christina Kelly
Avalon Editor/Writer
Bill Bertheau says goodbye to the production of
red wines in July when he moves his family north from the Sonoma Valley
to take over white wine operations for Chateau Ste. Michelle, in Woodinville,
WA.
He is also coming home.
The Seattle-born winemaker spent the last three
years as vice president of winemaking at Hambrecht Vineyards & Wineries
in Healdsburg, CA, producing wines for Belvedere, Branford Mountain,
Floodgate and Carneros Creek wineries. Prior to Hambrecht, Bertheau worked
at Chalk Hill and Hanzell wineries and spent a five-year stint making
wines at Gallo of Sonoma.
Yet, in the back of his mind, he always wanted
to return to the Northwest, where his parents and sister live.
“I’ve spent a lot of time in Seattle
area and tasted a lot of Washington wines,” Bertheau said. “Ste.
Michelle was a perfect fit.”
In fact, about five years ago, Bertheau learned
that winemaker Mike
Janiuk was leaving Chateau Ste. Michelle to open his own
winery. He approached Stimson- Lane (Ste. Michelle parent company) about
filling the position, but winemaker Erik Olsen had already
been promoted as maker of white wines.
Ironically, Olsen announced earlier this year that
he will become the new winemaker for Clos du Bois, a Sonoma-based winery.
“We’re like crossing ships,” joked
Bertheau. “A while back, Erik and I joked that we should exchange
jobs. My family was in Seattle, and his was in Sonoma, where he is from.”
Doug Gore, senior vice president
of winemaking for Stimson-Lane, said he has known Bertheau for many years
and always wanted him to come to work for the company.
“We know Bob and we know that he will do
a great job for us,” Gore said. “He has the credentials,
he has friends and family here, and he was ready to be here.”
The most popular Hambrecht Vineyards brand is Belvedere,
which is best known for its excellent Sonoma County and Russian River
Chardonnay. Bertheau also produced Burgundian-styled red and white wines
at Hanzell and Chalk Hill, boutique producers of premium wines.
It was at the small wineries where Bertheau said
he learned the techniques to make elegant white wines, including the
use of natural yeasts, minimum filtration and “monitoring the heck
out of the vineyards.”
While at Gallo of Sonoma, Bertheau said he produced
a Laguna Ranch Chardonnay, a luscious, lean, crisp wine with concentrated
citrus, apple and pear flavors. The fruit, he said, was amazing, enabling
him to make what he says was one of his best wines.
Bertheau was also involved in the successful Rancho
Zabaco zinfandels, Indigo Hills and other wineries owned by Gallo during
his tenure.
“I’ve produced Chardonnay at every
step of my career,” Bertheau said. “Now I am looking forward
to the production of the aromatic wines such as Riesling and Gewürztraminer.”
Both Gore and Bertheau say the successful formula
for white wines at Chateau Ste. Michelle will not shift drastically.
“He’ll put his mark on the wines,” said
Gore. “He has a good touch, so there might be a little different
look, a little different twist.”
Bertheau said it would take some time before he
learns all of the vineyards for white wine and begins experimenting with
blends.
“It’s like starting over with every
winery you work at,” Bertheau explained. “You have to learn
the vineyards and fruit. You follow the lead that the vineyard gives
you. This first year, I am not changing the direction of the ship.
“What I do know is that Ste. Michelle has
great fruit. It’s going to be very exciting to work with those
vineyards, but they will eventually tell me how the wines should be made.”
Although Bertheau says he will miss making red
wines, he has been reassured that he will be part of the team that makes
decisions on blends and wines produced by all the Stimson Lane wineries.
Bertheau moves his wife Karen, a registered nurse,
and his 5-year-old daughter Bonnie to Washington and likes the idea that
his daughter will be raised in the same area where he spent some of his
childhood years.
Bill, Karen, and daughter Bonnie
|
It is like coming full circle, said Bertheau, and
he owes it to a small winery in Idaho, where he worked in the tasting
room of Ste. Chapelle while earning a degree in chemistry at Boise State
University. He has a masters of science in enology at the University
of California at Davis.
“I can’t wait to see how Washington
fruit will react to my techniques,” Bertheau said. “It’s
going to be a great adventure in the Pacific Northwest.”
|