The Wine Knows

Up here at Timberline Lodge, we ran into a bit of a mystery over Ste. Chapelle's Sparkling Riesling. On the bottle, it is listed as a nonvintage American wine.

Northwest Wine Summit Director Parks Redwine bet me $1 that it used California grapes, based on the fact that it says in small type on the back of the bottle: "Vinted & bottled by Ste. Chapelle, Madera, Calif."

I was certain it was from Idaho grapes, based on the verbage on the back label, including: Our regions' long daylight hours, warm summer days, crisp evenings and well-drained, volcanic ash soils are ideal for producing distinctive wines like this Sparkling Riesling."

Who would win the $1?

I found the cell phone number for Chuck Devlin, winemaker for Ste. Chapelle and got the scoop. It's a bit of a strange one.

The Riesling is from Idaho grapes, Devlin explained. However, the winery doesn't have the equipment to make sparkling wine, so Ste. Chapelle sends the finished still wine to a sister winery in California, where it is made into bubbly.

Devlin said that because California and Idaho are not adjoining states, federal regulations require the vintage and appellation to be dropped.

Now we know. And I'm a buck richer.