2009 Columbia Crest H3 (Horse Haven Hills) Cabernet Sauvignon: lovely rich ripe spicy nose, good, silky cab fruit on the palate with spice, richness and texture. Wonederful velvet feel in the mouth Long lingering cab finish. A winner. The best part is that many of the California discounters have it at $9.95
I had some 07s of this bottle. They were…umm…used as cooking wine.
I find the h3 merlot as perfectly serviceable for parties, etc.
I’ve been a fan of the H3 cab for a few years now. If you can get it for under $10, that is outstanding.
Didn’t really get excited about earlier vintages of this wine, or for the merlot from CC, but this 2009 cabernet is wonderful.
I agree. I thought this was a heck of a wine for the money.
Mason-thanks for the post.I did know L A Wine Company had a blog. I’ve been a customer for years (but being in San Diego getting to LA is less frequent since I retired.)
I guess for someone just reading this thread we should note that the Wine Spectator gave this a score of 90 points.
I purchased 2 bottles each of all the offerings for H3 a couple years ago at a sale - I believe that was merlot, cabernet, pinot gris and chardonnay. I did that based on my good experiences with some of the Chateau Michelle Horse Haven Hills bottlings, as well as good experiences with Columbia Crest grand estates offerings. I was surprised how much the H3 bottles uniformly sucked. Eight bottles from 4 different varietals, and they were all barely drinkable. I don’t know what is going on, and I have wine friends who think they are reasonably good. But to me, I would rather not drink them. I don’t know what to say - I wish they were good, but they aren’t.
I liked the 07. I hated the 08.
Joe-I’m sorry you can’t seem to consider the possibility that the wines have gotten better in the years since you tried them.
Bob and I have had our . . . err . . . differences over the years, but I respect his palate enough that I bought a bottle and will report. Of course, if it’s over-oaked swill like the CCrest Grand Reserve he’s going to hear about it, repeatedly and loudly. I may actually demand reimbursement.
Oh, and Bob . . . it’s Horse HEAVEN Hills, not Horse HAVEN Hills.
Bob, I don’t mean to offend, and my post was more in jest than anything else. I did not like the 07 even at the $10 I payed for it. I don’t follow Washington wines, so I’ll take your word for it that the 09 is better.
I always have this nagging suspicion in the back of my mind about inexpensive bottles. How do they insure consistency across such large volumes produced and how was the wine handled as it was shipped and stored from the producer to my table? Seems like you shold expect some bottle variation and assume any critic got the best possible bottle to taste.
(It’s very early and this a generic post as I have not tried the wine in question)
One shop in St. Paul had it for $8.95 on sale. Great QPR!
Bob - Yes, the LA Wine Co blog has been fun. So many great deals there! I actually wrote this wine up a couple of weeks ago.
Bob – we had the 08 Hedges Red Mountain ($20 at Costco) last night in a 3 way blind tasting of 08 WA reds (cab based). It was slightly too oaky for my taste and had no real character compared to the Seven Hills Columbia Valley 08 cab ($16 at Costco). Have you gotten your hands on that one yet?
The SH Ciel du Cheval Mountain Red ($20 at Costco) was nice and had a very long, elegant mid palate, but there are significant tannins on the finish and it needs time. Still preferred the SH cab regardless of the price.
Jim - shipping and storing questions can be raised about more expensive bottles, or bottles produced in smaller numbers. Also, inexpensive does not necessarily mean high-volume. There are many inexpensive bottles that are produced in small numbers. Actually, wines that are produced in very large quantities are generally produced in modern facilities that employ clean equipment and quality controls that may not exist at smaller places. You may have some lot variation but by and large, producers like CC or Marques de Riscal tend to put out a consistent product.
But I think you’re right in that shipping and storing are not to be dismissed as sources of variability, particularly in wines that are aged for any length of time.
However, I don’t think that was the case here. Wine is a little more robust than some of us think and assuming this one wasn’t cooked or frozen repeatedly, I think it’s just the wine itself that some people don’t like. One reason the wine is cheap is that as far as I know, they own the vineyards and when they purchased, the land was cheaper than it might have been in Napa or Sonoma. In addition, they have economies of scale as they’re part of Washington’s largest producer. So they probably save a couple of bucks per bottle that way.
The Reserve can be really different depending on the vintage, but it does tend to be a rich, oaky wine. It’s rarely if ever hot and alcoholic, but it’s not shy with the oak, so if that offends people, they should avoid them. I’m not crazy about the Horse Heaven wines in general but I like the thinking behind them and I admire CC for their efforts. The sister wines from Chateau St Michelle are much better IMO.
Bob, as I remember Columbia Crest was an old time favorite of both of us.
I’m waiting for my next trip (courtesy of my neighbor) to Costco. It’s $20 at Freddy’s.
On a side note, I picked up a bottle each of the '08 Ridge Santa Cruz Mountains and the '06 Counterpoint from Laurel Glen. I’ll be test driving these over the next week or so (the Ridge on Christmas Day).
Nice. I have 3 of those Ridge SC cabs and would love to hear your take on them. The CT notes have been pretty positive especially for younger wine. BTW-- I’ll be doing a side-by-side comparison of the Matello 2009 and 2010 Lazarus today.