NW Wines: Not Ready For Prime Time

[stevebody]

Sorry! No contradiction; just major lack of clarity: Columbia Crest is WA's Bargain King purely by default. They make fine wines and originally started bottling the basic stuff as a cash cow. Their upper end stuff is as accomplished as any winery in the NW but they've done such a spectacular job with the Grand Estates line that people routinely think of them as a value house. They're part of one of those major wine conglomerates, of course, so the bean counters are quite happy to have them known as the home of $8 miracles but that's not their main purpose. Doug Gore was named winemaker of the year for the NW in the Seattle Times and could well take that title every year with no complaints. He's a major talent and Crest will eventually, I think, gain that high-end profile he fancies. Victims of their own success, these guys.