World Wine Weblog

A Dead Horse near a Cold Creek

It's Mother's Day, so we decided to open up some special wine for dinner, to accompany some grilled tenderloin, twice-baked potatoes and spring mix salads.  I picked up a bottle of the 2001 Mark Ryan Dead Horse Ciel du Cheval Vineyard red wine (a "left bank" Bordeaux-style blend, with 56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot, 16% Cabernet Franc and 10% Petit Verdot -- "Ciel du Cheval" loosely translated from French is "horse heaven", hence the wine's name, "dead horse", but the label assures us that "NO HORSES WERE HURT DURING THE PRODUCTION OF THIS WINE AND IT WAS TESTED ON HUMANS!") shortly after we enjoyed a bottle of his Long Haul (a "right bank" Bordeaux-style blend, with 46% Merlot, 31% Cabernet Franc, 12% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 11% Petit Verdot)  at 10 Mercer restaurant the night we saw What the Bleep.  We had ordered the Dead Horse, but all the restaurant had left was the Long Haul; although we enjoyed the latter, my appetite was whetted for the former.  I tasted some Dead Horse at the winery a short time later, and liked it well enough to buy two bottles (at $35!) but this was my first time pairing it with a meal.  It was fantastic, and I'm glad I have another to cellar for a while.

I also decided to open up a bottle of the 2001 Chateau Ste. Michelle Cold Creek Cabernet Sauvignon, a wine we liked well enough to buy a half-case of last year, which also sells for about $35/bottle.  The 2001 vintage of CSM was recently panned by Wine Spectator (registration req'd), so I was eager to retaste this to reconfirm my palate's differentiation from the palate of tasters for WS (which is a not uncommon occurence).  We enjoyed the Cold Creek, but it was not nearly as powerful (and wonderful) as the Mark Ryan.  I still think this is a good wine (fortunately, as we have 4 bottles left), but I think I'll stop by the Mark Ryan tasting room again some Saturday in the near future, as they now have their 2002 vintage available.

Mount Baker 2000 "Big Red" Yakima Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Another one of my favorite wines in the under $10 category is the "Big Red" from Mount Baker Vineyards.  I bought a case of the 1999 vintage last year (splitting it with two friends), and having recently tried a bottle of the 2000 vintage -- currently available for $8 per bottle at Whole Foods Market at Roosevelt Square (and possibly the Bellevue store) -- will be stocking up on this one, too. 

This year's wine doesn't seem quite as "big" as last year's (though is higher in alcohol: 14.4% vs. 13.5%), but still has plenty of richness, depth and full mouthfeel to it.  The flavor is reminiscent of ripe black cherries, I concur with Andrew Campbell's review of the 1999 Big Red (and extend it to this year's vintage) that the aroma and taste has more terroir and earthiness -- and is generally more like a Bordeaux cabernet -- than anything I've ever had at anything close to this price point.