Washington
Hogue Cellars
Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot, 2004
$10.99
Based on a 30-month research study, Hogue Cellars has made a major commitment to putting its wines in bottles with screw caps. If this wine is any indication, it was a good move.
Hogue makes very good wines that are designed to be consumed now, and the screw cap assures us that the wine will taste as the winemaker intended and not be tainted by cork fungus.
The study tested 80 bottles of wine — an equal number of wines were closed with natural corks, two types of synthetic corks and two types of screw caps. A panel of experts with really good noses tasted a blind random sampling of the wines every six months, and they were chemically analyzed.
Screw caps won. The wines with natural corks were the least preferred. The caps maintained the quality of the wine, and they dispelled the myths that natural corks are required to allow a wine to age.
The Hogue study is not going to cause the wine industry abandon natural cork, but it does answer the short-term questions about alternative closures, although we still don’t about the long-term effects. We know that wine stored with a natural cork does fine after 20 or more years of storage, but what about the alternatives?
Since most wines are made to be drunk now, the question for most of us is moot.
This Hogue blend is 55 percent cabernet sauvignon and 45 percent merlot grapes that are grown in the Columbia Valley region. The dry red wine has a deep ruby color and nicely balanced flavors of fruit and a hint of oak.
Although it’s slightly over the price threshold for this column, the wine is frequently on sale for much less. I bought it for $8.99.
It’s a very good wine that’s wonderful to have with a hardy winter stew or a steaming bowl of soup with crusty bread.
Columbia Crest,
Grand Estate
Cabernet Sauvignon, 2005
$9.99
Back in the 1990s, I grew bored with some Washington State wines, in particular Columbia Crest. They had been my favorite for a time. Columbia Crest wines were dependable. They weren’t going to blow you away, but nobody would hoot at you for serving them to friends.
I don’t remember the exact reason for growing sour on Columbia Crest. They were well crafted, but they probably lost favor with me because they had gone up in price and I’d moved on to what I believed were superior wines for less money.
Whatever the reason, I put Columbia Crest in the rearview mirror and didn’t look back until last week. I had heard something lately about the high-quality wines coming out of Washington State and the affordable prices, so I decided to give Columbia Crest another shot.
I tried the cabernet sauvignon, which is the signature grape of the state, and the relatively new Grand Estates line of wines being put out by the company, and I was really surprised.
This is not the Columbia Crest that I remember. This wine is rich and dark, layered with berry and chocolate flavors with lots of oak. It’s a perfect wine for winter, for sipping on a cold night or with soups, stews and chili.
Winemaker Ray Einberger and the company introduced Columbia Crest Grand Estates Cabernet Sauvignon in 2001, and wine magazines have consistently rated the wines as a one of the best buys on the market.
Einberger balances the cabernet sauvignon grapes from the company’s varied vineyards and then ages the wine in oak barrels for 16 months. The result is a full-flavored wine that’s worthy of most dinner parties.
I also tried Columbia Crest Grand Estate Merlot and found it as good as the cab. I recommend them both. I haven’t tried the other wines in the line, but I’m confident that they will compare favorably, so check them out, too.