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NORTHWEST WATCH SEAN P. SULLIVAN "We've completely neglected whites," Keller said of the existing research. "We're doing a good job of managing red grapes, but we tend to dry down our whites too soon. In Washington, unlike some other areas, we have very dry winters. Growers will put some water on and then they'll let the soil dry down through bloom and fruit set. But when you start out with a bank account that doesn't have much in it and you draw from it, pretty soon it will be down to nothing. And that is exactly what is happening to these grapes." These water deficits, Keller said, can affect some varieties, particularly the aromatic whites, more than others. Finally, while it was originally thought that Washington was too cold to successfully grow red-wine grapes, it might, ironically, be a bit too warm in some locations for whites. "The big thing I am always fighting is too much sun exposure," Gilla said. Some producers are now starting to look for cooler sites as a result. In particular, a number of wineries have begun focusing on the Ancient Lakes and Lake Chelan appellations for riesling and the Columbia Gorge for chardonnay. SEARCH FOR IDENTITY Even when growers and winemakers give Washington whites sufficient attention, the wines still have to find their way into consumers' hearts – and pocketbooks. "It is really, really hard to sell a high-$30 retail bottle of Washington state chardonnay in anywhere other than Oregon and Washington, because you're dealing with a lot of competition from other areas that are more noteworthy," Abbott said. "Even if you're looking for domestic chardonnay, consumers can have Napa Valley in one hand and Washington state in the other basi- cally at the same price, and they're going to take the Napa Valley wine pretty much every time because they know the region." For Brennon Leighton of Charles Smith Wines, it ultimately comes down to a consumer identity problem. "Washington (wine) doesn't have an identity yet," Leighton said. "And something like Washington chardonnay, which really hasn't been explored, definitely doesn't have an identity. People are always comparing it to different places. You can't compare it to Burgundy and you can't compare it to California, so it just gets lost." Leighton joined Charles Smith in 2012 in part to start a high-end, single-vineyard chardonnay project. If successful, this could go a long way toward getting people to think about Washington whites differently, both in terms of quality and price, with the wines expected to fetch top dollar. Despite Washington whites seemingly relegated to the cheap and cheerful section of the wine aisle, Abbott, for one, does not believe that all hope is lost for Washington whites in general or Washington chardonnay in particular. "I really think we can grow amazing chardonnay," Abbott said. "We just have to protect those older vine sites, we've got to get away from overhead irrigation, and we need to farm them the same way we are farming our higher-end varieties, and they'll come around and make top quality wines. They really will." Abbott and others have shown that top-quality white wines can be made in Washington. Whether more winemakers will rise to the challenge remains to be seen. Sean P. Sullivan is the founder of Washington Wine Report and a contributing editor for Wine Enthusiast magazine. He has written for a variety of publications including Seattle Metropolitan, Edible Seattle, Decanter and Wine Press Northwest. Sullivan lives in Seattle. Comments? Please e-mail us at feedback@vwmmedia.com. 34 V I N E YARD & WINERY MANAGEMENT | May - June 2013 w w w. v w m m e d i a . c o m