DRINK COLUMN
Mr. Grape Goes To Washington
by PHILIP DAWDY
pdawdy@wweek.com

All that is great about wine, we owe to France. Yet how often do you walk into a market, lay down $16 for a bottle of Bordeaux, that preeminent French wine, and feel stiffed by its quality? It's as if the French are holding out on us.

Bordeaux is nothing more (or less) than a blend of cabernet sauvignon and merlot grapes with a small amount of cabernet franc, the classic cutting grape, thrown in. There's good news, though, coming from Washington's Columbia Valley, America's second-largest wine-
producing state, where several vintners make cabernet-merlot blends, or American Bordeaux. These are reasonably priced, great tasting and worthy of a place at
your table.

Hogue, 1998 Cabernet-Merlot, $9. I can't believe this wine costs only $9. Sure, it's not the value of the century, but Hogue has all the heartiness of a Bordeaux twice its price, while pulling off double-duty by being just light enough to work with white meat.

Randall Harris, 1998 Merlot-Cabernet, $10. As with the Hogue, so with the Harris: an excellent value (though this is an even better wine). It is strong yet velvety, which works well if you think dry reds are all wet.

Snoqualmie, 1998 Cabernet-Merlot, $9. A great example of a wine that starts out promising but then goes downhill.

Covey Run, 1999 Cabernet-Merlot, $9. With 16 percent cabernet franc, this blend
is far too light to establish the machismo
of faux Bordeaux. What's more, it tastes unaged--and if this is its youth, one wonders what it'll be like when it hits middle age.

Hyatt, 1998 Cabernet-Merlot, $9. This is a 70 percent merlot/30 percent cabernet blend. It's decent, but it's like that blind date you had last week: nice enough, but you won't be calling again.

Here are two other good Washington wines
I've run into that don't work the Bordeaux axis:

Sagelands, 1998 Cabernet Sauvignon, $13. California owns America's cabernet market, but it could take a lesson or two from its northern cousins, who produce a much milder rendering. This widely available wine is a nicely balanced, accessible vintage. Unlike many cabs, it doesn't hit you over the tongue with its fruit.

Bookwalter, 1998 Merlot, $15. An excellent example of this grape's smooth, dry character, this is one of those mystery wines that make it hard to pin down why you like it so much--is it the peppery aftertaste? That's part of the fun.