My Cab Bargain of the Year

[Bob_Foster]

The newest issue of Food and Wine magazine names this cab as one of their favorites.

[Berg_Atkinson]

@Bob Foster

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 have 15 bottles of it logged in CT, and have consumed 14 in the last couple months And that doesn’t cover the ones I didn’t bother to log! I’m drinking a glass of it right this second in fact…I’ve just been keeping a case or more of this around the house. I’ve found this wine everywhere, as I think they made 79000 cases or something like that. Every time I to a grocery store or a wine shop, they have it and I buy a few bottles. I started drinking the H3 when the 08 was around, but the 09 is really a step up. I’ve been recommending it to friends left and right; I even recommended it to the girl stocking the wine section in Safeway last time I bought some there! Great choice Bob! Cheers!

[Tim_Burnett]

Maybe it’s Washington Cabernet 2009. I had a couple bottles of the 2009 Chateau St. Michelle Indian Wells Cabernet. It was really, really oaked. And it was really, really good for $12. It had notes, especially on the nose, that I cannot remember getting from wines that cost 10 times as much.

[rfelthoven]

Indian Wells is a warmer site. That mixed with the ton of oak you reference and a warm year and I’m out. Good for office parties and such. Probably not worth $120.

[rfelthoven]

Bob – I tried the 2009 H3 this weekend in a small bargain cab tasting and it was very solid (my favorite). Classic cab profile and not too sweet, oaky, etc. It didn’t have a ton of character or complexity but for the money, who expects that? It’s a very well made wine with no faults to speak of, but not a ton of superlatives either. For the class it’s a winner IMHO. Thanks for the heads up.

[P_Intag]

I tried a bottle of this over the weekend and thought it tasted like a generic bottle of oak-flavored red wine. Not identifiable as a Cab to me. I have to say I’m dumbfounded that so many people, even many sophisticated wine drinkers (like here on WB), enjoy this style of wine. IMHO, it tastes manipulated and the heavy oak hides the true character of the wine. Not to mention that the flavors are not at all appealing to me. Yuck.

[G_D_y_e_r]

@Jim Karegeannes

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)

Exactly my feelings. I think large volume wines tend to be engineered to handle more extreme abuse (velcorin or other sterilization treatments come to mind), but given they go to so many places there definitely won’t be uniformity in the distribution treatment. As for overall uniformity, I’ve been told that in those mega-fermentor tanks that they can homogenize what comes out bottle to bottle. The larger concern for me is what happens when the first few lots of the $10 wine get a 90 and sell out. Do they bottle up bulk wine from another source to fulfill demand?

[Bob_Foster]

Gee, I thought it had solid cabernet flavors. Go figure.

[P_Intag]

@Bob Foster

Gee, I thought it had solid cabernet flavors. Go figure.

I must be extremely sensitive to oak. There are many wines I’ve tasted, checked on CT and find that I’m one of the few that detects oaky flavors. Maybe it’s in my head

[George_Chadwick]

@Bob Foster

Gee, I thought it had solid cabernet flavors. Go figure.

What kind of comment is this?

[P_Intag]

My wife picked up a bottle of this at Costco, so I tried it again. Pretty much the same results as before - awful plonk. Suffice it to say, if you are someone that enjoys this style, my palate is polar opposite from yours.

• 2009 Columbia Crest Cabernet Sauvignon H3 - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Horse Heaven Hills (9/25/2012)
  Consumed over 2 days. Absurd levels of oak, with the nose showing an overwhelming amount of toasted wood, coconut, and vanilla aromas. On the palate, much of the same. On the second day, the overt oakiness settled down somewhat, but the wine was still very heavy with oak influence. This wine is a caricature of overblown, new world manipulated big red wine. Frankly, I’m astonished at the overwhelming number of very positive notes on this wine - it’s the antithesis of natural and terroir-driven wine. (78 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

[Bob_Foster]

I thought it only had a kiss of oak. We will have to agree to disagree on it.

[danupdike]

FWIW, I tried all of the H3 reds this Summer at a tasting and liked the Merlot the best; found it to be the most full-bodied and correct. Columbia Crest seems to have a fairly good track record with that grape.

[Matthew_Kershaw]

Drinking a different Cab but that also has some serious coconut bouquet. From the winemakers in our midst - is this from the oak alone? A specific type of oak? From another process or input?

[Rick_Smith]

@danupdike

FWIW, I tried all of the H3 reds this Summer at a tasting and liked the Merlot the best; found it to be the most full-bodied and correct. Columbia Crest seems to have a fairly good track record with that grape.

+1 like the merlot, pass on cab, and Chardonnay is a great party wine.