Monday, March 20, 2023

Columbia Crest "Grand Estates" (Washington State) Cabernet Sauvignon 2020

 


On opening, pours with an already aged hue for this young wine. Bouquet is quite nice with a warm bowl full of red berries with some skilled aging and with some fresher aromas of cherry/berry fruit.

Palate--First impression is nice with a structured presentation, with a perky, mouth full of red berries with a touch of raspberry fruit that needs time to kiss the air and allow what's there to rise up. (I just opened this 5 minutes before these remarks and will *review it after a couple hours as well.)  

*This is still pretty tight three hours later but mostly due to it's youthfulness in the bottle.  This is a decent inexpensive Cabernet and will only get better over the next 2-3 years but is enjoyable right now so Raise a Glass!

This is a $10 offering from Columbia Crest winery blended with small amounts of Syrah and Merlot. C.C. has a well established reputation for solid, value wines at the $10-$15 price point. I can't say I have ever been disappointed in several decades of experience with these wines. 

The "Washington State" on the label tells us the grapes were sourced (taken from) a variety of vineyards from various vineyards in the state.  As mentioned in other posts, the more focused the parcel from which the grapes are sourced the higher the quality of wine (and price) the wines will be. (There are however many exceptions to this rule.) So for example, if the label had said "Horse Heaven Hills" that tells you the grapes came from vineyards in that specific AVA (**American Viticultural Area).


**AVA is a legally, denoted area based on many rules/laws pertaining to quality and geological qualities of the different areas. This is true of wines all over the country and even the world however they have different terms etc. for them.

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