Put on the Red Light!

You don't have to put on the "Red-Light", but when you display the kind of lush seductive red fruit you get in this bottle of wine from Columbia Crest you just may need to. I purchased this little number from Costco the other day for $19.99 and thought it was a fair price for the caliber of wine in the bottle and of course taking a look around the web I saved $10 -$12 per bottle. BTW, @ this price it's a QPR winner! For you restaurateurs this means buy all you can, very food friendly and easily sold by the glass and try not to mark it too much!

I know some of you are saying what you're a Costco wine shopper? Yes, in this economy you need save every dollar you can and they have some very good wines for little prices. That's not all if you didn't like the wine cork it and take it back and they will give you a full refund no questions asked. Try that @ your local wine store. But one of the draw backs of shopping for wine there is the summer heated warehouse, which is no friend to wine. During the summer months I tend to purchase very little wine. I've stocked up during cooler months and have my stash socked away in the cellar. Not sure how I got on that rant, but I felt the need to share.

Back to the review, now the winemaker Ray Einberger say's this wine displays aromatics of chocolate cherry and slight mint and culminates in the perfect complex balance of fruit and wood. Sorry Ray I didn't get the mint or the chocolate in the nose, nor on my palate. Thank God, because I would have hated this wine if it had tasted like an Andes Mint.

Here's the wine Columbia Crest Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 which comes unfiltered! ( I would recommend decanting) It is very good and has a very soft mouth feel which comes from the Merlot blended in at 9% and the 27 months in the barrel. In the glass was a fully extracted ruby core and lighter colored rim. Wafting up to the nose complex aromas of dark cherry and a hint of cocoa, filling out the palate with indulgent blackberries and currant melding to a medium to long finish. I would not say this wine was full bodied or complex, but it is very fruit forward and the 14.2% ALC is scarcely noticed. If you can still find this wine @ your local Costco, I would recommend to run, not walk down and get your self a half case. As the drinking recommendation on this bottle extends to 2012. The year we are all suppose to implode into oblivion.

Oh, one other thing Columbia-Crest is part of the WWQA or the Washington Wine Quality Alliance which in 1999 was established to spearhead development of industry standards in wine making and labeling. Suffice to say, this is a good thing for you and me and all the wine loving community. I've drank many of the wines from Columbia Crest over the years and have always been pretty happy with most of their efforts and if your not familiar with them, my advice is to seek out their wine and give it a swirl. Until next time Cheers!