I'm slightly embarrassed to confess this, but I have thus far not tried Washington cabernet sauvignons. I've had some lovely Washington cab blends—including Two Vines Red, and CMS House—but I've not even really tried Washington cabernet sauvignons. Why, you ask? Well, because early on I discovered the excellent 2005 cabernet sauvignon from Meridian Winery in California. Meridian's cabernet is a full bodied rich, cabernet sauvignon, with just the right combination of black currant and tannic to suit me, and while it routinely sells for between $7.00 and $10.00, we've been buying it locally for $5.99 a bottle. That's pretty hard to beat, frankly. And since this cab is excellent, accompanies food just beautifully, and I like cab better than most other reds, I just didn't feel too inclined to experiment.
After sharing a bottle of Meridian cab over steak sandwiches the other night, though, it occurred to me that in the spirit of discovering Washington wines I should try to find a Washington cabernet sauvignon that I like as well as—or better than—the Meridian California cabernet sauvignon I've been buying and so thoroughly enjoying. So I'm about to embark on some dedicated research into Washington cabernet sauvignons.
Then I started thinking that if I'm going to do taste-testing, I should not only do it methodically, but I should blog about it to include anyone reading this who might have fun playing along at home. So you're cordially invited to assist with this very interesting line of inquire. Because, you know, Washington wines deserve priority over California wines—at least they do if one is a recent and enthusiastic Washington transplant.
The rules:
- It must be a Washington cabernet sauvignon; not a cabernet sauvignon-merlot blend, and not a blend of Washington and "other" cabernet sauvignon grapes. Not even an Idaho or Oregon cab. Those are wines for later experiments.
- It needs to be roughly the same age as the Meridan cabernet sauvignon; that is, 2005 or 2006. Even that feels a little bit unfair‐really they ought to be the same year. But it's hard to find cabs that are all 2005, and that's the age of the Meridian I've been drinking.
- The chosen cabernet sauvignons need to be $10.00 or less a bottle, or at least in that ball park. We're talking about table wine, after all. Maybe you can drink an $80 bottle of wine for simple curiosity's sake, but I'm not going to.
So far, we've located and purchased a Red Diamond cabernet sauvignon, and Columbia Crest Two Vines cabernet sauvignon. I'm looking for other suggestions; we're wondering about Chateau Ste. Michelle, Hogue, Kiona, Hedges, or Sagelands. What do you suggest?