- Winemaker:
Ray
Einberger
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- Vineyard Acreage:
2,500 vineyard acres surround winery
Products:
Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah,
Merlot-Cabernet, Chardonnay,
Johannisberg Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Semillon,
Sauvignon Blanc,
Semillon-Chardonnay
- Tasting Room Hours:
- Open for self-guided tours
and
complimentary tastings:
Daily - 10:00am to 4:30pm
- CLOSED: Thanksgiving Day,
Christmas Day, New Year's Day
and Easter.
- Early closing Christmas Eve
and New Year's Eve
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Special Events &
Concerts

- Picnic area
Tasting Room
Summit Reserve Club

- Self-Guided Tours (daily)

- Guided Tours (weekends)

Complimentary Tastings 
- VISA
Master Card 
Discover
- American Express
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World renowned. Washington grown. |
Columbia Crest Winery is one of
the wine industry's most amazing success stories. Planting
its large estate vineyards in 1978 to the major Bordeaux varietals and
opening its doors to the public in 1983, Columbia Crest made headline
after headline as consumer enthusiasm propelled its premium wines onto
bestseller lists throughout America. As its grapes matured in the
several microclimates of its unique location, it would become clear that
the terroir of the Horse Heaven Hills, where the winery's grapes grew,
was distinct from that of the massive Columbia Valley appellation that
surrounds it. The area's unique growing conditions and geology
produced consistent grape quality and flavors demonstrated through this
winery's estate wines would help create the case for Horse Heaven Hills
to win federally authorized status as Washington's 7th American
Viticultural Area in 2005.
With its wine program expertly directed by winemaker Ray
Einberger, wine quality has kept pace with the
winery's growth. The authors of Northwest Wines have written, "Columbia Crest
goes from strength to strength, and seems to get better as it gets bigger."
Fans of the wines rave about the consistent quality they have
learned to trust year after year.
Surrounded by 2,500 acres of prime vineyards,
the winemakers of Columbia Crest is literally a step away from the vines. Ray and his team are actively involved in caring for and making decisions about the vineyards.
Their goals are to:
- make wines that are true to varietal type;
- reflect the intensity of Horse Heaven Hills and Columbia Valley fruit;
- make sure their wines are perfect complements to foods.
-
Recent acclaim from leading wine
publications confirm that Columbia Crest continues to soar. The winery was
the first non-Californian producer in the American wine categories to be voted
"Best Winery for Value" in a Wine Spectator Reader's Choice Awards poll.
Columbia Crest has earned the "Winery of the Year" designation from Wine &
Spirits and has received numerous medals and high-ranking scores for
all
its wine tiers... Two Vines,
Grand Estate,
Reserve and Horse Heaven
Hills (H3).
This picture-perfect estate winery,
with its sprawling lawn and duck-filled pond, creates an inviting setting for an alfresco picnic
and quality relaxation.
 Be sure to plan plenty of time for a
visit to this one-of-a-kind Washington winery.
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Featured Columbia Crest
Wines
Two Vines Wines
The
wonderful winemaking conditions in Washington’s Columbia
Valley provide the fresh, full flavors of our Two Vines
wines. Our entire Two Vines portfolio has
established Columbia Crest as one of America’s most
popular and fast-growing wineries. Critics have
repeatedly praised these wines for their value and high
quality.
2005
Two Vines Shiraz
Columbia
Valley
“The Two Vines Shiraz features New World-style ripe,
jammy fruitiness blended from varieties traditional in the Rhone
Valley. Black cherry and white pepper aromatics also are pronounced
on the palate along with hints of strawberry. The finish is supple
and lingering.”
- Ray Einberger, Winemaker
The final blend includes Viognier and Grenache to
enhance the mouthfeel and fruit aromatics.
2006 Cabernet
Sauvignon Two Vines Columbia Valley
"This fruit-forward, minimally oaked Two Vines
Cabernet Sauvignon offers light blueberry and cherry aromas and
flavors throughout. The balance of fruit and soft oak provides a
lingering finish with hints of cocoa." - Ray Einberger, Winemaker
Grand Estate Wines
Columbia Crest’s Grand
Estates wines are crafted from a collection of remarkable Columbia
Valley vineyard sites, which are selected specifically for their ability
to produce wines with intense fruit character and complexity not found
in most “everyday” wines. Columbia Crest Grand Estates are
distinguished by their ripe varietal intensity. Lush and vibrant,
the wines offer a pleasing balance of sugar, pH and tannin—a synergy
that is grown in the vineyards and preserved in the cellar.
2007 Grand Estate Chardonnay
Columbia Valley
Premium vineyards throughout the Columbia Valley are
sources for Columbia Crest’s Grand Estates program.
Whole berry Chardonnay was pressed, and the juice
was held at 50 degrees in stainless steel tanks for two days. The
settled juice was placed into a combination of new and one-year-old
American (60%) and French (40) oak. In barrel nine months.
“This is a complex wine with
lingering aromas and flavors of cantaloupe, green apple and caramelized
sugar. Hints of nutmeg and clove play out on the lush, refined finish.”
- Ray Einberger, Winemaker
2006 Grand Estate Merlot
Columbia Valley
Grand Estates Merlot is
harvested from vineyards located predominantly on the Horse Heaven Hills
(texture and body) and the Wahluke Slope (aromatics and complexity.)
The grapes were crushed with 20% whole berries remaining. Wine
aged 14-16 months. The oak regime featured 25% new and 75% older French
and American barrels. Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon contributed
softness and further fruit dimension to the final blend. Alcohol:
13.5%
“This complex artisan wine
is produced using various barrel types and varietals to offer classic
Merlot spice, blackberry, and cocoa aromatics which persist on the
palate. The balance of wood and black fruits creates a velvety,
seductive finish.”- Ray Einberger, Winemaker
Locating and Buying Columbia Crest Wines

Reserve Wines
To give our Columbia Crest Reserve wines the
hands-on, special care you would expect from a boutique winery, we’ve
established separate areas where we use artisan techniques for
fermentation and barrel aging. This select group of super-premium
Washington wines can be consumed now, but we suggest that you hold onto
your favorites and allow them to develop in the bottle. They will reward
your patience with rich flavors, velvety textures, and long finishes—and
prove just how extraordinary Columbia Valley wines can be.
2005
Reserve Cabernet
Sauvignon
95 pts — Wine Spectator
"Wine of the Year" - Wine
Spectator's Top 100 Wines 2009
"The intense fruit in this Cabernet Sauvignon does
not deter from the aromatics of chocolate cherry and slight mint,
which precede a palate of cocoa and black cherry flavors. This is an
elegant, complex wine that culminates in the perfect balance of wood
and fruit on the lingering finish."
— Ray Einberger, Winemaker
Harvey Steiman,
Wine Spectator -" I love the refined structure and the
long, expressive finish on this Cabernet. It has a ripe, vivid
array of black currant, pomegranate, violet, black tea and black
pepper aromas and flavors. It shows remarkable subtlety in the
way it plays these complex flavors against the well-contained
tannins; it has great acidity to make it mouth mouthwatering.
For complexity, the blend contains 5% Merlot, 4 % Cab
Franc, and it uses grapes from six independent vineyards in
several different AVAs. To get more intensity, yields are
limited to 2 and a half tons per acre. Expressive flavors,
its stylish structure, combined with a great price and a
significant production, make the Columbia Crest's 2005 Reserve
Cabernet Sauvignon Wine Spectator's 2009 Wine of the Year."
2005 Walter Clore
Private Reserve
92 pts —
Wine Spectator
Walter Clore is known as the “Father of the Washington’s
Wine Industry.” In honor of his viticultural research and
contribution to our success, we’ve named this special wine after him.
Our Reserve Red is produced from vineyards among the oldest in the
state; vineyards located on the Wahluke Slope offer aromatics, texture
and complexity; Cold Creek sites contribute flavor and fruitiness; and
Horse Heaven Hills fruit introduces balance and body. Small lot,
artisan-style winemaking has produced a refined, yet powerful, wine that
will reach maturity well into the next decade.
“A classic Bordeaux-style winemaking protocol enhances
the aromatics of earth, coconut, blackberry and slight mint in this red
blend. Fruit and oak are perfectly balanced to yield a very
complex chocolate-cherry-blackberry profile with a lingering finish.
This is a very seductive, hedonistic experience in the glass.” - Ray
Einberger, Winemaker
Locating and Buying Columbia Crest Wines


Horse Heaven Hills (H3)
Washington state’s
famed Horse Heaven Hills have been home to the
Columbia Crest Winery for over two decades. Strong wind
patterns, which are unique to the Horse Heaven Hills, reduce
canopy size and density, create better sun exposure, and
contribute to even ripening by moderating temperature extremes.
Our winemaker blends innovation and tradition to capture the
flavors of this unique basalt and bedrock terroir creating wines
that highlight the intensity of these grapes.
2007 H3
Cabernet Sauvignon
"This intense, fruit-forward Cabernet Sauvignon
delivers aromas of cherries and huckleberry jam, with a perfect
balance of earthy tannins, great focus in the mid-palate and a soft,
smooth cocoa finish."
— Ray Einberger, Winemaker
2008 H3 Pinot Gris
Note: This exclusive wine is available only
online
and in our tasting room at Patterson, Washington.
$15.00 [Order
Now]
"This expressive Pinot Gris opens with aromas of
orange peel and citrus fruits, complemented by a slight dusty note.
Succulent and juicy white fruit flavors finish with a hint of
tartness, reminiscent of fresh green apples." -Ray Einberger,
Winemaker
Locating and Buying Columbia Crest Wines




Copyright ©
1997 - 2009 Susan R. O'Hara. All
rights reserved.
Last revised:
11/20/2009
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