Julie Pittsinger checks on her four-year-old planting of Pinot Meunier, one of the grapes traditionally used to make Champagne. Julie and Bret Pittsinger, owners of Karma Vineyards at Chelan, believe that the Lake Chelan area could become Washington State’s champagne-style wine region. Chelan’s relatively cool climate is ideal for producing high-acid Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier grapes, the varieties traditionally used to make wines in the méthode champenoise, Julie said. Karma Vineyards’s 2011 vintage will be made entirely of estate-grown grapes, making it one of very few estate champagne-style wines in the country. It was by chance that the […]