See under Ste. Michelle Wine Estates.
US wine multinational in Washington State with headquarters in Woodinville (King County) iom the style of a French château. It has extensive winery and vineyard holdings in the three US states of California, Oregon and Washington. The company's origins date back to 1934, after Prohibition, when the predecessor of today's "Château Ste. Michelle" was founded under the name "National Wine Company". In 1954, the company merged with the Pomerelle Wine Company and was renamed "American Wine Growers". Mainly fortified sweet wines were produced. From 1967, the famous oenologist André Tchelistcheff (1901-1994) worked as a consultant. He introduced European varieties and created the premium wine line "Ste. Michelle", which then gave the winery and company its later name.
The company, renamed "Ste Michelle Vintners" in 1970, was sold to a group of investors three years later and taken over by UST (U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company) in 1974. This in turn was taken over by the giant US tobacco multinational "Altria Group", formerly "Philip Morris Companies" (with leading brand "Marlboro") at the beginning of 2009....
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