In a country as parochial about wine as the US, you'd think it was a racing certainty that each wine-producing state would be the epicenter of interest for its own product, but that is slowly changing for Washington – and not necessarily in a way that will make the majority of winemakers happy.
Currently, Wine-Searcher has more than 87,000 offers forWashingtonwines across 3878 products from 43 vintages. These offers are from 3055 retailers in 67 countries. An offer is counted when a single retailer has a single vintage of a single bottle of a wine for sale, so the total offers a wine has is the number of different vintages (and different size formats) of that wine on sale at different retailers across the world.
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Naturally enough, Washington wine is most popular among US retailers, with the domestic market accounting for almost 82,000 of those offers. However, where it gets interesting is when you look at which states those offers come from.
Producers in Washington have been pretty successful in getting their wines beyond the local market, particularly the producers of the 10 most offered Washington wines. Back in 2018, the largest market was comfortably Washington, followed by California, Florida and New York. Shift forward to today, however, and the state with the largest number of offers is still Washington, but the states with the most merchants carrying Washington wine are actually New York and California.
The shift in focus for Washington wine has been modest, but it has been steady, with consistent growth in the number of retailers carrying the wines both domestically and overseas. However, it is very much a swings-and-roundabouts scenario, with a growth in offers in the UK this year balanced by a fall-off in interest in Germany, which had consistently been Washington's best market beyond the US.
Where the worrying part comes in is when you see the stranglehold one producer has on the world's perception of Washington wine.
Currently, the 10 Washington wines with the most offers on Wine-Searcher are:
- Chateau Ste. Michelle Chardonnay
- Quilceda Creek Cabernet Sauvignon
- Chateau Ste. Michelle Riesling
- Chateau Ste. Michelle Cabernet Sauvignon
- 14 Hands Hot to Trot Smooth Red Blend
- 14 Hands Cabernet Sauvignonr
- Charles Smith Wines Kung Fu Girl Riesling
- Chateau Ste. Michelle Merlot
- Columbia Crest Grand Estates Cabernet Sauvignon
- 14 Hands Winery Merlot
The most obvious feature of that list – and one that should concern Washington producers – is the concentration of a few producers. Washington's industry is well known to be dominated byChateau Ste Michelle, but this list really emphasizes that; only theQuilceda Creekand the Constellation-ownedCharles Smithwines are not from the Ste Michelle stable. Back in 2018, there were four non-Ste Michelle wines on the list.
Overconcentration doesn't just apply to brands. With the exception of the 14 Hands Merlot, which bears the wider Washington appellation, all the wines are from the Columbia Valley AVA. Again, this is hardly a surprise, given the size of the AVA, but it's odd that there isn't a single wine that carries any of the much-vaunted Washington regional names likeWalla Walla,Yakima,Red MountainorHorse Heaven Hills.
The reality for Washington's international footprint, however, depends on these brands and that appellation. And that's something producers and promoters from Washington are going to have to come to terms with.
