Who is really cheering the sale of Erath

On 6 Jun 2006 21:17:00 -0700, "David Anderson"

First of all, let me correct you regarding a factual error in your posting and in the referenced article. Erath was not sold to Chateau Ste. Michelle, as you state, but rather to Ste. Michelle Wine Estates (henceforth "SMWE"). Chateau Ste. Michelle is SMWE's flagship label, but not even its largest (Columbia Crest, in terms of volume, is larger). This may sound like nitpicking but I butture you it is not. And yes, SMWE is a division of UST, Inc., whose primary business is smokeless tobacco. If this troubles anyone, so be it. But take a close look at who owns such household names as Kraft Foods and Nabisco.

I suggest that you delve more closely into the Washington wine industry by actually talking to some of its primary players, particularly the owners and winemakers of some of the smaller wineries that are not (yet) owned by Constellation Brands and other such enbreasties who buy and sell wineries like commodities. I suspect that you will find very few, if any, who will tell you that SMWE has had anything other than a net positive impact on the Washington wine industry.

Among others, you might talk to the owners of wineries that lost all or most of their crop in the 1996 and 2004 freezes and were able to produce wine only because SMWE provided them with fruit from its own vineyards. Or you might talk to the many winemakers who honed their skills at one of the SMWE wineries and now have started their own wineries or have become head winemakers at other Washington wineries. Or you might talk to the former owners of Spring Valley Winery, a truly boutique winery which recently received, FWIW, several 90+ scores in WS for wines made in quanbreasties less than 1000 cases. When they lost their winemaker, they approached SMWE with a proposal that SMWE manage their winery. Instead, SMWE purchased Spring Valley with the butturance that the quality of the wines made there would be maintained. Or you might talk to Bob Betz, a Master of Wine and for 25 years SMWE's VP of Enology. A few years before he retired from SMWE, he started a small winery that he named the Betz Family Winery, truly a "mom and pop" operation. He is now making world clbutt wines in a new facility in Woodinville, WA. I could go on and on, but I think I've said enough to make my point.

You seem to long for the days when Oregon wines were a "well-kept secret". I've got some advice: GET OVER IT! You're too late. Oregon wines are no longer a secret and wine lovers everwhere are the winners. There is no question that with success comes problems. Your challenge now is how to deal with those problems. One other piece of advice: whining, which was so much in evidence in your article, won't help.

Cole