I deem this weekend an appropriate occasion to delve into the “E Pluribus Unum” of wines in my constitution, Cabernet. This robust red is my crème de la crème because of its distinct, tannin-rich, oaky flavor. The oakiest “Cabs” nearly splinter my esophagus and invariably, indelibly imprint my palate’s memory. Okay, I’m not splintering my throat but you get the idea…still working on my use of hyperbole.
Imagine, for a moment, that you own a vineyard. If you actually do own a vineyard, stop reading now and leave the dreaming for the hoi polloi. For those still with me, fantasize as we skip through our five acres of sun-soaked vineyard, our outstretched hands grazing the rows of verdant grape leaves with our feet kicking up dirt-filled trails that hang in the dry Paterson, WA air behind us. Yes, you heard that right; our vineyard.
Undoubtedly, you’ve heard of “farm to table.” Columbia Crest is the first crowdsourced wine to bring vineyard to bottle. The west coast vineyard has handed over five acres to the public. These are the same five acres that produced Wine Spectator’s 2009 Wine of the Year. Stakeholders are entrusted the opportunity to vote on “canopy trimming, fruit thinning, irrigation, when to harvest, blending, barreling, even label design.”
While the 2015 vintage is currently in production, “approximately 1,000 cases of the 2014 vintage Crowdsourced Cabernet are available for purchase in the U.S., exclusively online at and in the Columbia Crest tasting room in Paterson, Washington.
