A nice red blend for under $10

Thanks to a recent wine class, your Two Wine Nuts discovered a new everyday red that will go with a variety of meals.

CMS by Hedges in Columbia Valley (Washington) is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Syrah – hence the C-M-S name. According to the back label, this 2006 red is 52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 44% Merlot, and just 4% Syrah. This is pretty typical for blends, in that one or two varietals are dominant and the rest are marginal additions to help add color or flavor or body.

The back label also has an unusual explanation. It says: “This wine may occasionally show a deposit of natural tartaric acid crystals, a result of Hedges’ winemaking philosophy of less intervention, and less filtration of naturally occurring grape components. They are totally harmless.”

As hobby winemakers, we can tell you we had these crystals form in our early vino efforts and had to offer similar explanations. The crystals look like little floaty things and they will somewhat disappear if you shake the bottle a bit before opening. But that is purely for aesthetics. The crystals won’t hurt you nor will they impact the flavor of the wine. However, your Two Wine Nuts view the presence of these crystals as more of a sign of cheap (on a commercial scale) wine making and less an indication of organic, green methods. There is an easy way to prevent the crystals from forming. The wine simply needs to be cooled considerably (close to freezing) for a week or two during the winemaking process. This causes the crystals to collect at the bottom of the container/vat allowing the wine to be siphoned into a new container leaving the crystals behind. Homemade efforts may not allow the space or resources to stabilize the wine to this level. However, we feel commercial wines should.

That being said, we like this wine! At $9.99 at Trader Joe’s, CMS is an accessible wine for sipping or a casual dinner with friends. It smells primarily like a Cabernet Sauvignon – berries, some cherry, some plum. Taste-wise, it is not as heavy and full-bodied as a Cab but it is easy to sip for folks who consider themselves wine drinkers. However, this wine might be too astringent for the occasional wine drinker or for those who much prefer whites over reds.

The best commercial wine in the county

There are all of three commercial wineries in southwest Washington’s Clark County. None of them have particularly good wine but they are fun to visit nonetheless.

A few nights ago we opened a bottle of 2002 English Estate Pinot Noir (Gravel Mine Vineyard) and deemed it the best commercial wine in Clark County (we know several home winemakers who make better stuff).

An interesting aspect of the English Estate winey is that a gravel mine is indeed right next door. According to the wine's back label:

Grapes love gravel. This porous soil forces the vines’ roots deeper to find water and nutrients, enhancing the flavor and character of the fruit.

We’ve heard the same about rocky, volcanic soil. This is what we are pinning our hopes on for our own grapevines.

As for English Estate’s Pinot Noir, we first noticed that it was a bit darker than is typical of Pinot Noirs. Not a bad sign; just something noteworthy. It had a nice light, berry smell but we could also smell the alcohol (listed as 13% on the label; not especially high). As for its taste, well, we pondered this for a good long while. It was honestly a bit difficult to come up with any descriptions. It wasn’t a bad wine by any means. It just was not memorable and there really was not much to it. And yes, since this is the best commercial wine in the county, you can imagine our thoughts about the other two wineries’ offerings! Again, fun to visit, but no need to leave room in the trunk for purchases.

This wine is likely only available at the winery (or its website) and in Clark County wine stores. The website lists this wine at $22.95. We could not have possibly paid that much for it when we bought it a few years ago. This is a $10-$12 bottle at best.

A Tasty Rhône Varietal

One of our best finds recently was Tom, the Wine Steward at a local grocery store. He’s a retired wine guy who has great love and passion for the collection he’s assembled in the corner of a nearby QFC. You just never know where you are going to find great wines and great knowledge.

On Tom’s recommendation, we bought a bottle of a 2005 Syncline Mourvedre. We had had Mourvedres before but knew nothing about Syncline. It turns out Syncline is a winery in eastern Washington state, an area increasingly known for growing great warm-weather grapes such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, and Chardonnay.

Mourvedre is a type of red grape grown most popularly in the Rhône region of France. Because it originates from this area, it is called a “Rhône style” wine or a “Rhône varietal." Other Rhône varietals include Grenache, Syrah, and Carignan among the reds, and Viognier, Marsanne, and Roussanne among the whites. Unlike in the United States where wine is named by its grape, wines in France are referred to by the area in which the grapes are grown. So, you might drink a Burgundy, a Bordeaux, a Châteauneuf-du-Pape, or a Côte-Rôtie…all places in France that make wine. It would be like saying “I think a Napa would go well with this steak.” Or “What Willamette Valleys do you have?” Honestly, reading a French wine label can be rather confusing since it’s often hard to figure out what the grape is versus the region versus the maker. We’re still learning how to do this. When we get better at it, we’ll add a post.

In the meantime, the state-side Syncline Mourvedre was quite lovely and almost too easy to drink. It was deep, dark purple in color and had a subtle yet earthy nose. Rhône style wines, if one were to make a huge generalization, are typically much more earthy and mineraly and less fruity and flowery. The Syncline followed suit, although its taste was much less pronounced than other Mourvedres we have had. The first time we tried a Mourvedre, we were stunned that it smelled like a two-mile-away skunk – and this was a GOOD thing! That first Mourvedre also tasted sort of barnyard-y and soil-y – again, surprisingly good things. To compare to better known wines, the Syncline Mourvedre was stronger than a Merlot. And it had the weight and body of a Cabernet Sauvignon without the typical dark fruitiness of a Cab. We had lasagna with the Syncline and it went quite nicely.

We have no idea how easy it would be to find the 2005 Syncline Mourvedre outside the local QFC or the winery itself. According to their website, Syncline distributes to “select wine stores” in a number of states. At $19.99, the 2005 Mourvedre was perhaps a touch over-priced. We would have been more excited at about $15. Nevertheless, we are likely to include Syncline on a future wine trip to Eastern Washington. And, if you have never tried a Mourvedre and find one in a local wine store or World Market, we would encourage you to give it a try. You just might be surprised how nice a barnyard can taste!

For more info about Rhône varietals, check out Rhône Rangers.