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Wednesday, August 17, 2005
Wine Pick Of The Week: 2004 Hedges CMS Columbia Valley ($11)
Usually a new winery will establish its brand locally before attempting to expand outside its region. Not so with the Hedges Cellars winery on Red Mountain near Benton City. Not one bottle of the 1987 and 1988 vintages, the first two from the winery, was sold in Washington. Each of these red wine blends of cabernet sauvignon and merlot was sold exclusively in Sweden where it became an immediate success.
It wasn't until 1990 that any of us locals got to taste a Hedges wine. I remember the buzz the '89 vintage got when it was released locally. It was the first red blend of this kind from Washington and the combination of its quality and low price ($7) made it a hit. Hedges still makes only blended wines but the top of the line Hedges Red Mountain Reserve sells for $50 a bottle. Meanwhile, the cabernet/merlot blend has morphed into the CMS red (named for cabernet, merlot, syrah), which is still the winery's workhorse wine at 30,000 cases annually.
The white version of CMS is a combination of chardonnay, marsanne and sauvignon blanc. It seems an odd combination, but the addition of the rather obscure marsanne not only makes the moniker work but seems to add -- even in the minuscule proportion of only 2 percent -- a nice dimension to the wine.
One of the appealing things about this wine is that it has seen no oak so there's nothing to get in the way of all that fruit, which makes it a great warm-weather white. The wine is utterly delicious with its nose and flavors of lush fruit that reminds me of citrus, pear and white peach. To find the wine, contact Noble Wines at 206-326-5274.
-- Richard Kinssies
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