Our take
Chateau Ste. Michelle Vintage Select Riesling Washington White Wine
- Style
- White wine
- Size
- 750 ml
- Grape
- Riesling
- Region
- Washington State
- Shelf barcode
- 0088586621840
Our take
What we make of this bottle
Vintage Select is part of this Riesling's listed name, and it is worth knowing what the words do and do not settle: they do not fix how sweet the wine is, because Riesling runs anywhere from fully dry to sweet and the grape name alone never sets the sugar level. What the label does come with is a real history. Chateau Ste. Michelle says it started in 1967 in Woodinville as Washington's first premium winery, and by its own account the winery changed hands in 2025, when the Wyckoff family bought it and returned it to local ownership for the first time in half a century.
Those 7 shopper ratings average 5, the top of the five-point scale. In our September 2026 checks the price ranged from $11.99 to $19.99, with the low end among the more affordable whites we track.
Chateau Ste. Michelle's own technical sheet, published for the wine it sells direct as Riesling Columbia Valley and confirmed by retailer listings as the same wine sold at grocery under the name Vintage Select, settles the sugar question the label leaves open. The producer calls the style medium-dry and lists 2.1 grams of residual sugar per 100 millilitres, 21 grams per litre in the more familiar measure, which lands closer to a gentle sweetness than a bone-dry style. The wine is 100 percent Riesling at 12 percent alcohol, fermented cool, between 55 and 60 degrees Fahrenheit, to hold its crisp apple and white peach character, with what the producer calls subtle mineral notes underneath. The producer describes it as "our go-to Riesling," easy to match with a variety of foods.
Our call: reach for it if a medium-dry style with apple, white peach and a mineral edge is what you want from a Riesling; shopper ratings sit at the top of the five-point scale, the price runs among the more affordable whites we track, and the producer's own history runs back to 1967 as Washington's first premium winery. Pass if you want a bone-dry Riesling; the producer's own sheet calls this one medium-dry, with enough sugar to read as gently sweet rather than fully dry.
The Grocery Store Wine Desk · written Sep 16, 2026 from our research file for this wine. Numbers reflect our latest checks.
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Read our take →The prices we checked
Dated store checks, not a promise about your store.
- Kroger, Atlanta suburbs, GA$11.99
- Kroger, Cincinnati, OH$12.99
- Ralphs, Long Beach, CA$15.99
- Fred Meyer, Portland, OR$19.99
- King Soopers, Colorado Springs, CO$12.99
- Smith's, Las Vegas, NV$16.49
- Kroger, Knoxville, TN$12.99
- Kroger, Richmond, VA$13.99
- Fry's, Tucson, AZ$12.99
- QFC, Tacoma, WA$12.99
The regular price can vary by store and date.
From the producer
Washington's founding winery
Chateau Ste. Michelle says it was established in 1967 as Washington state's first premium winery, built in Woodinville. The winery's own site also says the Wyckoff family bought Chateau Ste. Michelle in 2025, returning it to local ownership for the first time in 50 years.
Research status
What we are still checking
Our overview above draws on the dated store feed, shopper ratings, our region and grape research, and any sourced producer facts. We are still working to confirm the current release, the full producer record, and the bottle itself, and we update this page as we learn more.
Getting to know Washington State.
A Washington label can point to a large state blend or to a narrower AVA. Most vineyards are east of the Cascade Range, but the exact AVA still matters because elevation, wind, rain and frost exposure change across the state.
What the name means
Washington is a state origin, not one American Viticultural Area. Its wine regions include 21 federally recognized AVAs, some shared with Oregon.
How grapes grow here
The Cascade Range blocks much of the Pacific rain from eastern Washington. That creates generally dry growing conditions with warm summer days, cool nights and winter frost risk, while western sites have stronger marine influence.
What lies under the vines
Flood deposits, windblown silt, sand, gravel and volcanic material occur across Washington wine country. A state name alone does not identify one soil or vineyard setting.
How large the region is
- Recognized AVAs
- 21 wine-growing areas are listed by the Washington State Wine Commission.
- Label resolution
- Washington State is broader than an AVA, so the bottle or producer must establish a more specific place.
Places within the region
- Columbia Valley
- A very large AVA that contains many of Washington's smaller wine regions and crosses into Oregon.
- Yakima Valley and Walla Walla Valley
- Two established AVAs within the broader eastern Washington landscape, each with its own boundaries and local conditions.
Getting to know Riesling.
Riesling is an aromatic white grape that keeps strong acidity as it ripens. It can make wine from fully dry to sweet, so the grape name alone does not tell you the sugar level.
Category guide
What to expect in the glass
Official category guides describe citrus, green apple and floral notes in younger wine, with stone fruit in riper examples. The high acidity can keep both dry and sweet versions feeling lively.
Sources: New Zealand Winegrowers; Wine Australia. Checked Aug 10, 2026. See all 11 Riesling wines we cover →
Where this information comes from
- Store listing
- Price, package, product identifier, and shopper rating. Checked Aug 10, 2026.
- Barcode
- The shelf barcode shown here is computed from the store product identifier. It has not been checked against a bottle.
- Method
- Every price, rating and fact here is a dated observation. How we check.