1998 Columbia Crest Grand Estates Merlot

[newsguy]

i know much has been said about this wine, but i had it again this weekend after not drinking any for months and i had to reiterate how tasty this is -- and what a steal it is at $9-$10. it has a nose and taste of a much more expensive wine.

and WHAT a nose! deep scents of black cherry, blueberry, vanilla and spicy, smoky oak. tastes of same and a good finish that isn't disrupted by -- surprise --a mild dose of drying tannins. to me, this wine almost tastes more like a cab than a merlot. and i think the bottle will improve for another 2 years or so.

you can easily spend 2-3 times as much moolah and not get as good a merlot as this. for me, this is as good a P/Q wine as is out there. doug gore just continues to do amazing things with those washington state grapes. let's just hope the P doesn' start catching up to the Q ;-)

[This message has been edited by newsguy (edited 01-15-2002).]