Wineries Are Becoming the Toast of Washington

Lift a glass of wine to the Statue of Liberty Centennial in New York City, then sip a toast to Vancouver’s Expo 86.

These two travel highlights of the year have combined to give the wine country in the state of Washington the autumn glow of national and worldwide recognition.

Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery, headquartered in Woodinville near Seattle, in the setting of a French country estate, is a founding sponsor of the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island restoration and thus far has raised nearly $1.3 million for the project.

Much of this funding has been raised through the publication of Chateau Ste. Michelle’s heritage cookbook, “Tastes of Liberty--A Celebration of Our Great Ethnic Cooking.” A $45 value, presenting the stories, recipes and color photos of the cuisines of nine immigrant ethnic groups, the hard-cover, coffeetable-size book has been sent free to anyone making a contribution of $20 or more to the Liberty Centennial Fund.

Initially, 25,000 copies of the book were printed in what was considered a gamble. To date, 75,000 copies have been given to contributors. Volume II is in the works and is intended to help carry forward other Ellis Island restoration work, targeted for completion in 1992.

Throughout the year another Liberty Centennial fund-raising effort by this producer of fine table wines has been held in conjunction with Vista International Hotel at the World Trade Center in New York City.

Different Ethnic Cuisine

Vista has been featuring a different ethnic cuisine on Friday and Saturday evenings every month since February, when French cuisine was spotlighted in the Greenhouse restaurant. For every dinner sold, Vista and Chateau Ste. Michelle each donate $2.50 to the Liberty Centennial fund. Each also donates $1.50 for every bottle of Chateau St. Michelle wine bought.

The spinoff effect of all this has been to focus greater attention on the Washington wine country.

The increased awareness of Washington and its wines has been magnified by the success of the state’s exhibit at Expo and the simultaneous campaign to promote state attractions with the theme, “Visit Washington--the next best thing to Expo!”

The state budgeted $1.5 million for the campaign. Motorists driving through Washington on the way to and from Expo have been offered free coffee by hospitality personnel at highway rest stops, every 30 to 50 miles. Signs along the highways urge: “Take a safety break--free coffee!”

And then a billboard pops up: “Expo’s yourself to our hospitality.”

Next phase of the campaign will look beyond Expo to Washington’s statehood centennial in 1989.

Chateau Ste. Michelle has welcomed more than 150,000 visitors at its Woodinville winery, 20 miles from downtown Seattle.

Many of Washington’s wineries are in the lower Yakima Valley. The American Automobile Assn. Tour Book for Oregon/Washington gives directions to 34 wineries.

The Columbia Winery is open for tours and tasting at Bellevue, in the eastern area of metropolitan Seattle. Bingen, overlooking the Columbia River south of Mt. Adams, is the home of Mont Elise Vineyards, with an observation deck and free wine-tasting room. Bingen is a sister city of Bingen, West Germany, and in its neighboring community of White Salmon there is a Glockenspiel Tower.

Worden’s Washington Winery in Spokane crushes grapes in October and November, starts its fermenting in December, bottling in February, and is always open for tours and tasting. The largest cluster of wineries is in the Yakima Valley tri-city area of Richland, Kennewick and Pasco along the Columbia River.

At Paterson, southwest of the tri-cities, Chateau Ste. Michelle’s River Ridge winery is the largest in the Pacific Northwest, with nine acres of underground fermenting, aging and bottling facilities. Harvesting started early this year and will continue into November.

Guided tours take you through every step of wine making toward the tasting room. The landscaped picnic grounds are open daily through November.

A visit to Ste. Michelle in Woodinville is like coming upon a chateau in the wine country of France. It is set in 97 acres of forests and landscaping. On a weekend, it’s wise to book a tasting tour by phoning ahead: (206) 488-1133. You’ll also receive directions to the winery via Interstate 405.

The amphitheater at the chateau was ready for travelers to and from Expo with a summer festival of classical, bluegrass and contemporary musical concerts as well as Shakespearean plays. The festival will be repeated next summer. Autumn concerts and choirs will build toward Christmas programs and the lighting of a 125-foot tree.

Visiting the wineries and the fall foliage can be combined with virtually every travel interest in Washington, from mountain climbing in the Cascades or Olympics to hiking in the national parks and forests, boating on Puget Sound and exploring Seattle.

From the observation deck of the 604-foot Space Needle in Seattle you can get an overview of autumn, from the mountains to Puget Sound. Along the canal between the sound and Lake Washington, the University of Washington Arboretum is like an artist’s painting in October as well as in May.

In the capital of Olympia, gateway to the Olympic Peninsula and Olympic National Park, you can change from wine tasting and touring to a free tour of the Olympia Brewing Co. Olympic National Park, topped by the 7,965-foot summit of Mt. Olympus, is a collage of hemlock, red cedars, Sitka spruce and Douglas fir.

Monthlong Oktoberfest

A two-hour cruise out of Bellingham will lead to the month-long Oktoberfest on Orcas Island in the San Juan island group. Autumn cruising the Washington State Ferry System through Puget Sound and on through the San Juans creates a sense of serenity in the colors of the season. We’ve found historic inns and bed-and-breakfast hideaways along every fall foliage and wine country trail in the state.

Wine touring can likewise be part of winter in Washington. The ski slopes and cross-country trails of Snowqualmie Pass are scarcely an hour from Seattle, and Olympian runs such as the Roller Coaster in the White Pass area of Mt. Rainier are equally accessible.

In the many ethnic restaurants around Seattle you can find cuisines collected in Chateau Ste. Michelle’s “Tastes of Liberty.” This heritage collection features recipes brought to the New World by immigrants from Italy, Germany, Greece, Britain, Eastern Europe, Iberia, Scandinavia, France and by people of the Jewish faith.

The book is sent to those who contribute $20 or more to Liberty Centennial Fund, P.O. Box 4115, Dept. RO, New York 10163. A comparable fund-raising program will be set up by Chateau Ste. Michelle to include its Volume II of “Tastes of Liberty.”