Chateau Ste. Michelle: Revisiting the Tour

I went to Chateau Ste. Michelle yesterday afternoon. I had not been on their winery tour for at least seven years, if I remember correctly. I take all of my out of town guests and just make them go on the tour. It seemed a good day to revisit the tour. It takes about 30 minutes and you see the bottling line in action and learn the history of Chateau Ste. Michelle. The chateau is built on the 1912 estate owned by lumber baron Frederick Stimson. Looking at the old pictures shows how much has happened in this area. We toured through where the wines are stored in tanks, of which some of the smallest hold 7 to 8 thousand gallons. They have over 150 of these tanks on site. We also did a little wine tasting after the tour and I really enjoyed the 07 Chardonnay, nice and light and no oak flavor. The 07 Muscat Canelli had a nice peach flavor and I don’t really like sweet wines. I really enjoyed going on the tour. Sometimes you need to be a tourist in your own back yard.