I love celebrating Washington Wine Month with bubbles. While Washington may not have the greatest reputation for sparkling wines, Domaine Ste. Michelle has consistently been producing some of the best value bubbles you will find in the Pacific Northwest. I don’t know another winery in the Pacific Northwest that is able to deliver bubbles at this price point. Considering the ‘Brut’ sells at Costco for $9.99, you could even make an argument that their ‘Brut’ Sparkling Wine is one of the great sparkling wine values in North America. I have been fortunate enough to have many older vintages of the ‘Luxe’ sparkling wine and I have been really impressed how well this wine ages. ‘Luxe’ bottlings from 2006 and 2008 have been really singing lately.
Winemaker Paula Eakin has more 20 years of experience making wines in Washington state as part of Ste. Michelle Wine Estates. She started her winemaking career at Chateau Ste. Michelle’s Canoe Ridge Estate winery as a lab technician in 1994 shortly after college. In 2001, she joined sister winery Columbia Crest as an enologist and was promoted to assistant winemaker in 2004, specializing in white wines.
Originally from Spokane, Washington, Eakin was raised in northern Idaho and Kennewick, Washington. Her new sparkling wines were classy across the board. The NV Domaine Ste. Michelle ‘Brut’ Sparkling Wine (WWB, 89) is an awesome value with its soft mousse and good astringency. I love the new 2015 Domaine Ste. Michelle ‘Luxe’ Sparkling Wine (WWB, 91) which is a remarkable achievement considering the heat spikes during the vintage. Learn more about this fantastic winery for sparkling wine at https://www.michellesparkling.com Here are the great new wines by Domaine Ste. Michelle.
NV Domaine Ste. Michelle ‘Extra Dry’ Sparkling Wine- Brioche and lemon zest mark the nose. The palate is slightly sweet with good minerality and showing peach and pear tones with suggestions of marzipan. This is excellent for the price. Drink 2020-2025- 89
NV Domaine Ste. Michelle ‘Brut’ Sparkling Wine- Consistently a great value the NV Domaine Ste. Michelle ‘Brut’ Sparkling Wine shows green apple, starfruit and kiwi tones with shades of challah bread on the palate. With good length and astringency this is fantastic as an aperitif. Drink 2020-2025- 89
NV Domaine Ste. Michelle ‘Brut Rose’ Sparkling Wine- Pale pink in color, the NV ‘Brut Rose’ delivers good balance and freshness with ripe nectarine, guava and teaberry tones on the palate. This is seriously good at this price point. Drink 2020-2025- 89
2015 Domaine Ste. Michelle ‘Luxe’ Sparkling Wine- The 2015 vintage for white wines was extremely difficult due to major heat spikes that led to a record early harvest. That said, this is a seriously good effort given the growing conditions. Layers of banana and baking spices combine with brioche and lemon zest tones on the nose. The palate has good freshness, albeit not as much richness as some vintages. Sourdough bread and Japanese apple tones combine with suggestions of green papaya and honeydew melon on the palate. The length is really good, as the 2015 ‘Luxe’ will cellar well for the next seven plus years. For a mere twenty dollars, this is one of the great sparkling wine values you will find in North America. Drink 2020-2027- 91