Columbia Crest Grand Estates Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 Review
The Columbia Crest 2014 Grand Estates Cabernet Sauvignon has been the second-most pop vino with customers in 2017 on Vino.com. (Photo courtesy of Ste. Michelle Wine Estates)
It'south no surprise to see a Kendall-Jackson Chardonnay leading Wine.com'south meridian 100 list of wines purchased in 2017, but at No. ii stands the Columbia Crest 2014 Grand Estates Cabernet Sauvignon from Washington state.
Five years earlier, Columbia Crest's 2 Vines Cab ranked No. 1 on the list that the nation'due south leading online vino retailer claims as the industry's only ranking based entirely on consumer purchases.
"This list has special meaning to united states of america in that this is the consumer voting with their wallet," Kirsten Elliott, senior marketing manager for Columbia Crest, told Great Northwest Wine via e-mail.
Retail toll for the G Estates Cab is $12, and these releases polish in international wine competitions. This fall, the recently released 2015 vintage earned a gold medal at the Great Northwest Invitational Wine Competition, which features a judging console dominated past West Coast wine buyers, merchants and sommeliers.
The Grand Estates programme represents the third tier of Columbia Crest's general portfolio, and while the label lists Columbia Valley equally the American Viticultural Surface area, the final blend of 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon (80%), Merlot (xviii%) and Cabernet Franc (2%) is pulled from the Equus caballus Heaven Hills and the Wahluke Slope.
"It'south no hole-and-corner that beautifully balanced Cabernets with exceptional body come from the Horse Heaven Hills, and the Gradient, with the warm temperatures, contributes distinct aromatics and complexity," said Laura Sorge, who leads Columbia Crest's red winemaking team for head winemaker Juan Muñoz Oca. "This simply gives the winemaker an abundance of opportunity to brand the best choices when blending."
Other Northwest wines to make the San Francisco-based retailer'south tiptop 100 through November were the Wines of Substance 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon (No. 42), Chateau Ste. Michelle 2015 Chardonnay (No. 60), King Estate 2015 Willamette Valley Pinot Gris (No. 83) and Charles Smith 2015 Kung Fu Daughter Riesling (No. 99).
Calibration of production allows for broad audition
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The string of historically hot vintages, the increased plantings of Cab in Washington state and the post-obit for the Grand Estates programme has fed the product of this wine by Sorge and her teammates, at present ranging from 300,000 to 370,000 cases each year. And the success of the 2014 Cab on Vino.com is helping vino lovers learn that wines from the Columbia Valley are grown well west of District of Columbia.
"With the diversity of regional wines available from all over, consumers are exploring more than always," Elliott said. "Couple that with Wine.com'south vast selection and easy navigation, consumers tin easily get to the best of everything – bully wines at a great price."
Elliott pointed out Grand Estates wines are distributed nationally and are available in more than 60 countries.
"I would love to say this is all excellent marketing!" Elliott joked. "But, all kidding aside, this is a long-term commitment to the quality of wine in the bottle equally illustrated past some recent acclaim (the 2014 vintage got 91 points from Vino Spectator). Nosotros've also been focusing more on lifting the veil on the winemaking process on social media through the Juan and Juan on Wine content series and topical and timely Facebook Lives."
All the same, she noted that the successful rebound of the economy since the Great Recession has affected valued-priced wines.
"The biggest headwind domestically is the decline of the $vii-$10 segment as consumers trade up," she said.
That adds up to an extremely competitive market place for wines, whether it be domestic or imported.
"Information technology'south merely confirmation of the intelligence of the consumer," Elliott said. "They are focused on quality vino, and they know a good value. Through their filtered navigation, Wine.com makes it very piece of cake for consumers to find wine with a fantastic quality-to-toll ratio similar Grand Estates. At a traditional retailer, it isn't that elementary."
Winemaking talent shows at Columbia Crest
Columbia Crest winemaker Laura Sorge grew upwardly in Seattle and spent years in bio-pharmaceutical research before pursuing a career in wine. (Photo courtesy of Ste. Michelle Wine Estates)
The cellar at Columbia Crest and the Grand Estates plan remains a fertile basis for Ste. Michelle Vino Estates, the giant with headquarters in Woodinville but with its heartbeat eastward of the Cascades.
"The work on the Grand Estates wines has definitely been a defining place for several winemakers," Sorge said. "Marcus Notaro, now winemaker at Stag's Jump Wine Cellars by manner of Col Solare, learned winemaking in the Crest cellar, as did Darel Allwine, the winemaker at Col Solare. Keith Kenison, joined the Crest winemaking team in 2002 after working at SMWE for five years, and is now leading 14 Hands.
"We fondly refer to these winemakers equally 'rooted in Paterson,' " she added.
Notaro made the Wine.com meridian 100 list at No. 11 with his 2014 Artemis Cab, a production of just his second vintage at the acclaimed Silverado Trail property.
Company touts news of Vino.com ranking
Ray Einberger left an indelible mark on the Washington vino industry when his Columbia Crest 2005 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon was named the best wine in the world by Wine Spectator in 2009. (Photo courtesy of Columbia Crest)
Cab has been king of the Wine.com list v times in its 11-year history. Hogue Cellars in Prosser, just across Interstate 82 from 14 Hands, won the countdown award in 2007 as Wine.com's all-time seller with its 2003 Genesis Cabernet Sauvignon. Only in 2014 has a Cab from California's Napa Valley — the Caymus 2012 — topped Wine.com's list of offerings. In 2011, an Argentine bottling led the style. In 2008, that No. 1 spot went to a reserve Cab from Chile.
Beating out wines from all corners of the world is no anomaly at Columbia Crest, though.
"Acclaim is shared throughout the winery via celebratory banners and group discussions with the philosophy being that acclaim should reach everyone who contributed to it," Elliott said.
The Vino.com recognition doesn't move the needle in the aforementioned style as Wine Spectator's award for the Columbia Crest 2005 Reserve Cab — naming it the earth's No. i for 2009 — but it'due south another source of pride for the winemaking team in Paterson. In 2002, Wine Press Northwest, a regional publication based in Kennewick, Wash., selected Columbia Crest equally its inaugural Pacific Northwest Winery of the Yr. On the comprehend was its winemaker, Doug Gore, now vice president of winemaking for Ste. Michelle Vino Estates and a recent inductee into the Washington Vino Hall of Fame.
News of the Wine.com ranking only rekindles the slogan "Crest is Best," coined by Ray Einberger, who retired every bit head winemaker in 2014.
"I would always dare to quote the dandy 'Saccharide Ray,' " said Sorge, a Seattle native whose career at Crest began during the Einberger era. "We do the aforementioned winemaking now that we did 35 years ago when Doug Gore was the winemaker – just on a larger scale. Information technology's that commitment to acting small while thinking big that is a winning combination."
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Source: https://greatnorthwestwine.com/2017/12/12/columbia-crest-grand-estates-cab-ranks-no-2-wine-com-list/
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