Chateau Ste. Michelle vice president of winemaking Katie Nelson (right) practicing with Columbia Crest senior director of winemaking Will Wiles.

Tonight Chateau Ste. Michelle vice president of winemaking Katie Nelson will throw out the first pitch as the Seattle Mariners host the Boston Red Sox at T-Mobile Park. The honorary pitch celebrates the 90^th anniversary of Ste. Michelle’s founding company.

“It’s quite a distance,” Nelson says of throwing from the mound to home plate. “Once I measured it out, I thought ‘What did I get myself into here?’”

Nelson, who has never played baseball, has been practicing with her son, who plays the game.

“I figured it would give me a good reason to go play with him every day in the yard,” she says of accepting the offer to throw out the first pitch. Nelson has also been practicing with Columbia Crest senior director of winemaking Will Wiles.

While this will be Nelson’s first time on the mound, she’s no stranger to Seattle sports teams. In the spring, Nelson skated on the ice with the broadcaster for the Kracken, Seattle’s National Hockey League team.

Ste. Michelle itself was founded in 1967, focusing on vinifera wines. Prior to that time, almost all of the state’s wineries were making fruit and berry wine, a trend that would continue into the ‘80s.

However, Ste. Michelle’s roots date back to 1933. Domenick DePaolis, the founder of National Wine Company, filed the articles of incorporation for the company at 9:02 a.m. on December 5^th 1933 – the day Prohibition was repealed. National Wine Co. subsequently merged with Pomerelle Company in 1940. In 1954, the company was renamed American Wine Growers, which subsequently launched the Ste. Michelle brand.

Monday’s game starts at 6:40pm.

Image courtesy of Chateau Ste. Michelle. 

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