Someplace To Look When You're Looking For Value

In honor of the recent Independence Day holiday, (almost) all beer and wine poured over the weekend was domestic.  But rather than the usual California selections for wine and Colorado craft brews for suds, Washington state was the source for all the reds.  There was little premeditation in this decision, but a lot of residual sighs; sighs of contentment.

Not a single bottle topped $16, nor was there a loser in the bunch (ok, there was one, but it was way over the hill).  Cabs, Merlots, Syrahs, blends, you name it...winner after winner.  Almost all were from some part (or parts) of the Columbia Valley.  A few sweeping generalizations which held true for these Fourth of July wines:

• These are proud wines
• The fruit is honest
• The structure is substantial
• The value is irresistible
• The risk is low

With so so many regions and wine types requiring a too-high minimum entry point, just so you can take a gamble, it's nice to know that there's a huge region offering lots of options with low risk and high reward.  Case in point:

2010 Mercer Canyons Horse Heaven Hills Cabernet $15  Why this wine doesn't cost twice its price is beyond me.