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Why Crest is best

Ever wonder how Columbia Crest manages to consistently make millions of bottles of wine for bargain prices? Ray Einberger and his crew at the Northwest's largest winery amaze me every time I pop the cork on one of their wines.

Last fall, Wine Press Northwest Managing Editor Eric Degerman spent a day during harvest with "Sugar" Ray and crew, going through vineyards and the winery.

The video below is very insightful. How often have you seen a red wine fountain? You'll see it here as Einberger gets some oxygen into his young wines. And he shares a lot of his tips and tricks.

Take a few moments watching this, as it's really fascinating.

By aperdue at Jun 19 2008 - 1:51pm | destinations | harvest | Washington | aperdue's blog | 862 reads

2004 Columbia Crest Reserve Red

Ray poured this at the Taste Washington this year and it was very well balanced with good structure and had laser-like intensity of ripe red fruits with lots of tingle (good acidity) on the long finish. I was very impressed.

By mmccune at Thu, 06/19/2008 - 5:54pm | login or register to post comments

absolutely fascinating!

Wow..... is all I can say. How Ray Einberger can be that "hand's on" when producing millions of cases of wine is simply amazing. A few nights ago we had the 2005 Columbia Crest Grand Estates Cabernet Sauvignon, which I hadn't had before. It was a really nice wine and full of cabernet varietal character, which isn't something you always find in a $9 bottle. Smooth, sweet tannins, a touch of oak, and a very rich, full mouthfeel. We have been loving the new Two Vines Vineyard 10 Red Wine, a sangiovese/cab/syrah/merlot blend, if I remember correctly. It is barely medium bodied (drinks like a big rose'), but really tasty. My hat goes off to the whole Columbia Crest crew. Those guys have probably forgotten more about making wine that most of us will ever know!

Tim

By timinspokane at Thu, 06/19/2008 - 4:38pm | login or register to post comments

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