I love big Washington State red wines! I get that they oak the hell out of them. At the same time, these talented wine makers craft sophisticated blends that even in the $30-50 price range rival well renowned wines from Napa, Australia and even Bordeaux that cost 2 and 3 times more. In fact, many of them have Bordeaux-style blends.

Chateau Ste Michelle is ground zero for the Washington State wine biz. While most of the Chateau Ste Michelle wines that you see in the grocery store might not have been your favorite wine, they work some genuine magic across their varied array of wines. And even priced in the $20s, many of these wines are great quality wines and represent a good value. Price tag aside, you’ll want to look for these words on the label: “Horse Heaven Hills”, “Indian Wells”, “Canoe Ridge”. These represent single vineyard wines and the grapes from these appellations give us some of the most amazing grape juice there is.

Thee CSM Red Blend is great at 66-68˚F. With its solid tannins, it’s a nice complement to steak or lamb. There is a nice amount of blending that also complements barbeque or even burgers.

 

Composition: Syrah (43%), Merlot (43%), Grenache (6%), Malbec (4%), Cabernet Franc (2%), Mouvedre (2%)

Producer: Chateau Ste Michelle (www.ste-michelle.com)

Appellation: Columbia Valley (Washington State) – Indian Wells

Appearance: Deep ruby red

Aroma: Moderately aromatic. Spice up front with red fruit along with vanilla and hints of smoke. There is a floral hint, which I suspect is that little 2% of Cab Franc doing its thing

Taste: Spicy punch of the Syrah. Again, the red fruit comes through nicely with a smooth finish (again, the Cab Franc gets likely credit for this). Solid tannins as well.