2012 Columbia Crest Cabernet Sauvignon H3

Community Tasting Note

5 comments have been posted

• Comment posted by Champagneinhand:

  1/22/2015 7:22:00 PM - then give it a few years for integration. I do hate that upon opening a wine, but the wine is less than 2 years old or at least in the bottle. Steer clear of the Cali cults or Italian and French that seem to love Oak. Or just wait it out. Better to find out on a $10 than one ten times that or higher. Chalk this one up to learning. I won't open the single I bought for 5 years. Mighty expensive shelf space for a ten dollar wine but many a WA state wine seem to need adequate aging.

• Comment posted by mrfroopy:

  2/8/2015 11:16:00 AM - I appreciate the thought. First of all , you should not assume that I don't know a lot about wine, I have the WSET diploma. Second this wine does not have enough structure to hold. This is a wine for near term consumption I would not save it .

• Comment posted by Champagneinhand:

  2/9/2015 7:43:00 PM - I didn't assume anything because we don't know each other. Congrats on the WSET. You have to agree that we are always learning even if you have you Master of Wines, hanging on the wall.
  
  This wine should be able to hang on for 5 years from the end of vintage. As even low acid wines can do this, and perhaps they added the oak to give it some more tannin to offset the overripeness, allowing it to hang on, for a couple more years. I've seen many oak filled wines mellow within a year or two. Of course many never do.
  
  I commented specifically as your 74 indicates multiple wine making flaws.
  
  Over ripe fruit, could be seen as a vintage thing or a flaw, low acid all about picking to late, as well. I guess too much oak can be seen as a flaw, I like it integrated, but many European wines are framed in oak, and the likes of Screagle or Dominique Laurent are what I consider seriously over oaked, when using 150-200% new oak. I bought a bottle of D. Laurent Mazis-Chamertin, just so I could try it after 10-15 years and see if any of it completely integrates and whether it turn into vanillin, mocha, coffee, cacao or cedar/sandalwood.
  
  Anyhow, I like the stand, one way or another, as so many reviews are between 82-93, without many reasons.
  
  You never know. Again a 74 on such a young wine, from a bargain brand, that actually does a pretty good job for the price point. I guess personal preference goes into all numerical assessments.

• Comment posted by mrfroopy:

  2/13/2015 9:51:00 AM - you should read your original comment to me. It was very condescending. I replied in a fairly snarky way because you are the one who was taking the I know everthing about wine stance. I totally disagree with you about this wine, but believe me I don't think I know everything about wine or almost anything, I do however have the right to rate a "non flawed" wine like this because to me this is such a cynical industrially made tasting wine that is made to a formula, that I feel that a 74 is totally appropriate. I was not waving my own flag with the WSET, I was telling you that because you were trying to shove knowledge that you think you have that others don't in my face. I never push back but you really should re read your original comment to me and think about how passive agressiveness works.

• Comment posted by Champagneinhand:

  2/13/2015 12:28:00 PM - Sorry if you thought the comment sounded snotty. I didn't intend for it to be that way. I had a similar comment right before I read your saying that 2012 Orma IGT Tuscan was buried in unnecessary oak. Of course you can rate something the way it drank. I was just shocked as so many polarizing tasting notes on this particular wine. I only bought a single and am now quite curious to open it. I've had the Grand Estates Cabernet and thought it was a decent fruit forward 2012 Cab with some oak, but the CC Two vines Cab-Merlot seems to have more yet it drinks fairly well.
  
  Again I didn't intend to sound condescending. Sometimes sarcasm doesn't translate well to forums. It might be fun to see how this ages at least very short term. Again apologies if I sounded like a know it all, as I'm far from that. I grow Chard and Pinot just North of the Finger Lakes and have made wine 4 different times. Even with great fruit it's difficult. Maybe I give Columbia Crest and CSM a bit too much favoritism because of the volume they put out. Same with the likes of the LVMH champagne houses. The truth is that there is never a good wine only a great bottle. If it was a blind tasting I might have pummeled it as well.
  
  Thanks for calling this out. Sometimes it helps. I had a forum member as me to break up my thoughts into paragraphs about two years back. That really helped a lot of people including myself as the eyes get tired on single spacing too long b