Chinook Wines

[1][2] Kay Simon, who began her career after graduating in 1976 from University of California-Davis in California's San Joaquin Valley and at Chateau Ste.

They are considered by wine experts such as Paul Gregutt to be "the classic expression of Yakima Valley fruit".

[1] Chinook was founded in 1983 in the Yakima Valley by the wife-husband team of Kay Simon and Clay Mackey, who met while both were working at Chateau Ste.

That same year, the Yakima Valley AVA was established as the first American Viticultural Area in Washington State.

[5] Kay Simon and Clay Mackey are often pouring at the tasting room themselves or making deliveries of their wines to restaurants and retailers across the state in Seattle.

[12] Raised in Northern California, Kay Simon graduated in 1976 from the enology program at University of California-Davis with a degree in fermentation science after originally entering college to become a nutritionist.

Michelle, Simon did some consulting work with other Washington wineries prior to starting Chinook with her husband Clay Mackey in 1984.