Keyword(s): wsw
Joy Andersen had no idea that a career in the wine industry was awaiting her as she completed her chemistry degree at the University of Washington. It wasn’t until she started her first job at C...
Ted Baseler (b. 1954) grew up in Bellevue, graduated from Washington State University (WSU), and studied journalism at Northwestern University in Illinois. From there he worked at a series of advertis...
Bob Betz (b. 1948) is a leader and pioneer in the Washington wine industry. After growing up in Seattle, he took several trips to Europe and fell in love with the culture of winemaking. He abandoned h...
The Boeing Employees' Winemakers Club (BEWC) originally took flight as a hobbyist organization in 1971 when a small group of Seattle-based aeronautics coworkers, who were also amateur wine enthusiasts...
Jerry Bookwalter (1940-2023) was a pioneer wine grower and winery owner who helped bring the Washington wine industry to prominence. He arrived from California in 1976 to manage Sagemoor Farms, which ...
Paul and Judy Champoux owned and operated Champoux Vineyard from 1996 to 2014. Their love for grape growing, and each other, started in the 1980s when both worked for Chateau Ste. Michelle. With Paul ...
Martin Lanis (Marty) Clubb (b. 1957) is the co-owner and managing winemaker of the L’Ecole No 41 winery in Lowden, just west of Walla Walla. Marty and his wife Megan Clubb acquired the wine...
Gary Figgins (b. 1948) launched the Walla Walla Valley wine industry in 1977 with Leonetti Cellar, the first of the Walla Walla wineries and long considered to be among the best. Figgins became famous...
Alex Golitzin (b. 1939) is a revered figure in Washington winemaking. Born in France, raised in California, and trained as an engineer, Golitzin was living in Snohomish and working at Scott Paper Comp...
Throughout his career, Doug Gore has shown that a passion for growing grapes and dedication to teamwork can not only make delicious wines but create a more accessible industry for everyone. Gore began...
Rob Griffin (b. 1953) has been a winemaker in Washington since 1977. He arrived at age 23 from his native California to be the winemaker at Preston Wine Cellars near Pasco. He had a degree f...
Mike Hogue (b. 1944) is a Prosser wine grower who started one of the Yakima Valley’s earliest and best-known labels, Hogue Cellars. He grew up on a Prosser hop farm and returned as a young man t...
Jim Holmes may be the quintessential example of the type of person whose professional background prepared him to help found a successful vineyard and winery in a previously untested, and even unpromis...
After discovering the joys of wine at age 21 during a trek across Europe and Asia, Ron Irvine spent the rest of his working life immersed in the Washington wine industry. In 1971, having just returned...
On March 26, 1892, large-scale irrigation of the Yakima Valley commences when water gushes into the Sunnyside Canal for the first time. A throng of spectators are gathered at the canal's headgates aft...
On September 21, 1911, Kennewick’s first annual Grape Carnival opens at the tabernacle, ushering in two days of lectures and presentations, exhibits and displays, band concerts and parades, and ...
On March 22, 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Cullen-Harrision Act, legalizing the manufacture of beer and wine. The U.S. Alcohol Tax Unit -- forerunner of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacc...
In November 1934, William Bridgman starts Upland Winery, one of the first wineries in Washington to take advantage of the December 1933 repeal of Prohibition. Upland is the first bonded winery east of...
On April 2, 1969, Washington Governor Dan Evans (1925-2024) signs House Bill 100 – commonly known as the California Wine Bill. The new law removes trade barriers protecting Washington's moribund...
In the spring of 1972, Sagemoor manager John Pringle begins planting 280 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc, and Riesling vines on two of Sagemoor's vineyards, Sagemoor and Bacchus, situated...
On October 13, 1974, The Los Angeles Times announces the results of a wine competition sponsored by the newspaper in which a Riesling from Washington – Ste. Michelle Vineyards' 1972 Jo...
On December 14, 1982, Washington red wines burst onto the national scene when a Cabernet Sauvignon from Walla Walla's Leonetti Cellar is named the best in the nation. The award is the result of a blin...
On March 23, 1983, the U. S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms designates the Yakima Valley as the first federally recognized wine grape growing region in Washington and the first north of Cali...
On April 14, 1983, F. W. Langguth Winery unveils its first vintage of Washington wines at the annual KCTS Festival of Wines in Seattle. Langguth, a German winemaking behemoth, is the first major forei...
On July 25, 1984, Seattle Post-Intelligencer wine columnist Richard Kinssies writes about the newest releases from Columbia Winery. Among them are three 1981 Cabernet Sauvignons, the first W...
On October 5, 1985, the 1983 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon from Hogue Cellars in Prosser wins Best in Show at the Atlanta International Wine Festival. The award is a stunning achievement for winery owner...
On March 16, 1987, judges at a wine tasting in New York award their top overall score to a 1983 Cabernet Sauvignon from Paul Thomas Winery in Bellevue. The winning wine, crafted by winemaker Brian Car...
On April 26, 1987, a bill approving creation of the Washington Wine Commission is sent to Governor Booth Gardner for his signature. The bill with its controversial funding plan has passed in the House...