Cathedral Ridge Columbia Valley Mixed Reds 3-Pack
$49.99 $120.00 58% off List Price
2014 Cathedral Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon, Columbia Valley
2014 Cathedral Ridge Zinfandel, Hillside Vineyard, Columbia Valley
2014 Cathedral Ridge Merlot, Reid Vineyard, Columbia Valley
Does anyone have a drinking window for the three different wines?
TIA.
Coming full circle as Woot winds down- Cathedral Ridge was my 3rd Woot purchase, early January, 2010. I recall it being very decent and an excellent QPR. I may have to order just for old times sake! Now, if we could see some Red Zeppelin (my 2nd buy) at those late 2009 prices (3 Zeps were also $49!)…
No Zep since Amazon took over, so hope no more.
Wasn’t so much a hope- no expectations to ever see Zep at those prices again!
Its Christmas season, don’t crush someones hope like that!
Wait for the new year to restore hope.
When Mill buys that is an automatic for me-don’t know him but he has good taste (assume it’s a he-don’t know that either). Either way going to miss him and wine woot.
Agreed! I just commented recently that I hadn’t seen him as 1st sucker recently. Glad to see he’s still with us, another band member on the Titanic!
[grape]
The Woot Monkey Flying Carpet graced us again with the Cathedral Ridge 2014 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. This is my first experience with Oregon Cabernet Sauvignon!. With a little more time, we were able to do a bit more formal tasting/evaluation of this wine. Three tasters, rpm, SWMBO, and a Danish friend of ours who primarily drinks European whites and light reds. As frequent readers of rpm notes know, I am very partial to the aromas and flavors of the Cabernet Sauvignon grape, but SWMBO does not like young Cabernet Sauvignon and really does not like grapey, overripe, high alcohol wines.
After opening (nose closed on first sniff), I poured tasting amounts into three large crystal glasses and we let it sit for about 45 minutes.
As our Danish friend was not really familiar with our tasting and scoring methods, I will only include scores and notes from rpm and SWMBO.
The modified Davis scorecard (out of a possible 20):
Appearance: rpm 1.5; swmbo 1.5
rpm thought the wine is clear, but not brilliantly clear - swmbo thought a touch cloudy from some angles
Color: rpm 1.5; swmbo 2
rpm noted medium depth of color, characteristic of Cabernet; swmbo no note.
Aroma and Bouquet: rpm 3.5; swmbo 2
rpm got bell pepper, some red fruit (cassis like, but barely ripe), and a hint of black pepper spice. swmbo got cooked fruit (fig/prune?), earthiness with slight dustiness.
Total Acidity: rpm 2; swmbo 2
rpm noted good acid, crisp and fresh acidity; swmbo thought good balance.
Sweetness: rpm 1; swmbo 1
Both rpm and swmbo thought the wine dry with little residual sugar; appropriate in the wine
Body: rpm 1; swmbo 1
rpm noted a relatively light body for Cab, with a nice mouth feel. swmbo had no note.
Flavor: rpm 1.5 swmbo 1
rpm tasted red ripe currents, black pepper, would have liked more going on swmbo thought there was not enough berry flavor
Bitterness: rpm 1; swmbo 1
Both found the wine did not have any inappropriate bitterness.
Astringency: rpm 1; swmbo 1
rpm noted good tannin structure, with a medium length finish; swmbo agreed. swmbo did not have a note
General Quality: rpm 1.5, swmbo 1
rpm thought the wine was very nice for a cool weather, young Cabernet and that it was very drinkable now. rpm thought the wine could have fair aging potential based on the balance and structure, but given his lack of experience with the wine concluded it was unclear.
swmbo thought the wine was pleasant with a good mid-palate and a pleasant finish.
FINAL SCORE: rpm 15.5; swmbo 14
What score ranges mean on 20 point scale:
0-8 = unacceptable or spoiled
9-12 = below standard
13-16 = standard
17-20 = superior
For reference, here’s my take on how Cabernets have tended to run over my tasting lifetime:
I have rated few California Cabernets at 20 (some 1941s (e.g. Inglenook cask; Beaulieu de la Tour), some 1970s (e.g. Heitz, Beaulieu de la Tour), some 1985, some 2001 (e.g. Corison Kronos). Similar quality wines in lesser years tend to run 17-18. Most of the decent Cabernet serious Cab drinkers who aren’t spending a fortune quaff runs between 15 and 17 depending on the year, everyday drinker Cabernet tends to run from 11 to 14 or 15, depending on the year and region.
Observations: Our Danish friend found the wine rather acetic. I didn’t get that, but that could limit aging potential.
We had the rest of the wine with a dinner of Scandinavian meatballs, brussel sprouts, red cabbage and potatos. It went well with the food (other than the brussel sprouts and cabbage - which no wine goes with imho) and all of us enjoyed it with the food.
This is not a Cabernet for those who like wines harvested at high sugars with prune/raisin flavors, big body and tannin to put hair on your chest.
As a food wine, it’s very nice and, at ~$17/bottle, I think its a good value, especially if you’re looking for a Cab you can drink now.
rpm Recommended if you like wines of this type.
Bought the 3-pack from this winery forever ago, still remember how good it was. 2 kids later and it’s a bit above my price range now, but I had to chime in on how much I enjoyed it back then.