Ste. Michelle Wine Estates

Winter-weathered wine grape canes are sheared from cordons and fall to pruners' feet. The brittle twigs cascade in every direction, littering the stripes…

The massive Northwest wine beast Ste. Michelle Wine Estates has announced to its Washington wine grape growers that it’s not taking nearly half of its…

Across the Northwest, there are too many wine grapes and not enough demand. It started with an overly optimistic industry planting too much. Then came the coronavirus pandemic. Now, vineyard managers and wineries are being forced to think creatively to cope with 2020’s bumper crop.

Just in the last year, the wine-in-can category has grown by more than 100 percent across the nation, measured by volume of units sold. The third largest winery in the nation is Ste. Michelle Wine Estates, based in Woodinville, Wash. Now, it’s pouring huge amounts of juice into aluminum cans under its 14 Hands brand.

Some winemakers are calling it the “beerification” of wine. Many Northwest winemakers are trying to make wine a little less fussy by putting it in aluminum cans.