By Andy Perdue

One of Washington’s longest tenured and most successful and prolific winemakers will be retiring at the end of this year.

Doug Gore, Ste. Michelle Wine Estate’s executive vice president of winemaking, vineyards and operations, has been winemaking for 36 years in Eastern Washington.

The California native came north to Washington in 1982, at a time when Washington was seen as a winemaking backwater, rather than the polished, developed industry it is today — in no small part because of Gore’s visionary winemaking.

Gore, 66, arrived in Washington in 1982 as the red winemaker for Chateau Ste. Michelle, working out of the winery’s facility in the Yakima Valley town of Grandview. Ste. Michelle, Washington’s oldest winery, was building a new facility overlooking the Columbia River near Paterson called River Ridge.

In those early days, the industry had little focus, having yet to figure out the best grapes to grow, or even how to grow them.

As with most agricultural pursuits in the Columbia Basin, nothing happens without irrigation. Back then, grape growers were dumping a lot of water on their vines to ensure growth.

Later, Ste. Michelle would run trials and experiments to learn that less water applied at the proper time — called deficit irrigation — would result in better fruit and, as a result, better, more intensely flavored wines.

When Gore arrived, all of that was still to come. He became deeply involved in the research, making wines from vines receiving different levels of irrigation. He and researchers from Washington State University concluded that Washington grape growers were able to cut their water usage in half while raising quality, particularly with red wines.

“Our grapes got better, and our wines got better,” Gore said.

By 1986, Gore had moved full time to the River Ridge facility, what was to become known as Columbia Crest.

Within a year, the winery was producing a full lineup of varietal wines at fair prices and garnering fame with critics and consumers alike, constantly bringing in high scores from publications and becoming widely distributed across the country. In fact, Columbia Crest quickly became the ambassador to a burgeoning wine industry, often being consumers’ introduction to Washington wines.

Back then, Washington wine was so small, it would have been easy for the entire industry to line up for a selfie.

Thanks to no small part because of Gore, Washington wine would emerge as a global powerhouse, growing to now more than 1,000 wineries and 60,000 acres of vineyards. Along the way, Columbia Crest grew to more than two million cases of wine and became the state’s largest producer. In the meantime, Washington had emerged as the country’s No. 2 wine-producing state, behind only Gore’s home state of California.

In 2003, Gore was promoted to executive vice president of the company, stepping aside as Crest’s head winemaker after 20 years at the helm.

In 2009, Crest reached the pinnacle of global winemaking, when Wine Spectator magazine named the Columbia Crest 2005 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon the No. 1 wine in the world, a first for a Washington wine.

In 2002, Ste. Michelle launched 14 Hands, a brand that started as a restaurant-only label that grew into one of America’s fastest-growing brands that now is Washington’s second-largest winery. It was made at Columbia Crest until it got its own dedicated facility in Prosser. In 2013, Gore helped launch Seven Falls, a lineup of wines using grapes from the warm Wahluke Slope region near Mattawa, among Gore’s favorite regions. Since its launch, this brand has grown to more than 100,000 cases.

“When I left Napa in the ’80s, I never imagined I would have such a diverse and rewarding career with one company for nearly four decades,” Gore said.

In 2017, Gore was given the highest honor, being inducted into the Legends of Washington Wine Hall of Fame in Prosser.

Gore, who lives in Cle Elum, will remain with Ste. Michelle through the end of the year. When he leaves, he will be succeeded by Juan Muñoz-Oca, who has been head winemaker of Columbia Crest since 2011. Moving into the role of senior vice president of winemaking for the whole company will be Bob Bertheau, head winemaker of Chateau Ste. Michelle.

All of these changes come on the heels of the retirement of Ted Baseler, who retired as president and CEO of Ste. Michelle Wine Estates for 17 years.

Gore will be exiting the cellar on a high note, after the 2018 harvest, already being hailed as among the best in memory. He said he feels comfortable leaving now, with great leadership in place in the wineries and some great wine in the barrels.

Andy Perdue of Richland is the wine columnist for The Seattle Times. He is the founding editor of Wine Press Northwest magazine and is the editor and publisher of Great Northwest Wine, a Washington-based media company. The third-generation Northwest journalist has written or contributed to several books about food and wine and regularly serves as an international wine judge throughout the West Coast.