Wannabe Wino

That time of month has rolled around and wine bloggers all over the world (well hopefully, I'm not sure how easy this theme will be for those outside North America) are raising glasses of Washington State Cabernet Sauvignon, our theme for this month. This month's lovely and gracious host is Catie of Through the Walla Walla Grape Vine, no surprise that the theme is Washington-centric!

I've been a WBW slacker for the last two months, though I think I had very good reasons for my absence from the festivities. However, I'm back in the saddle for this month, though even being here in the US, it was no easy feat to find a Washington State wine that was not Chauteau St. Michelle or Columbia Crest. I ventured to Total Wine and More in Alexandria, VA to find my wine this month. To my utter surprise, they actually had two Cabernet Sauvignons from Walla Walla, but Matt would not have been pleased if I brought home a $52 or $34 bottle of wine. Other than that, in the nearly 1000 bottles that must have been Cabernet Sauvignon, there were only 5 options...2 of which belonged to the aforementioned wineries. I finally settled on a bottle, after literally examining every bottle to make sure I wasn't missing anything.

My entry for this WBW is a $12.99 bottle of 2003 Bridgman Cabernet Sauvignon from the Yakima Valley of Washington State. It had a plastic cork closure and weighs in at 13.9% alcohol by volume.

On the nose there was alcohol at first. That eventually blew off. Underneath were aromas of bell pepper with an herbacious note, blackberries, blueberries, oak and something oddly sweet. Overall, I would say the fruit was very sweet on the nose. In the mouth there were candied blackberries and overall it was sweet in the mouth though it had smoky undertones.

I served the wine with brautwurst on the grill and homemade macaroni and cheese. It was a fairly good match, though I think perhaps it would have been better with a steak.

Overall, an okay foray into Washington Cabernet, though I wish I could have justified the ones from Walla Walla!