Our take
Columbia Crest Grand Estates Merlot Washington Red Wine
- Style
- Red wine
- Size
- 750 ml
- Grape
- Merlot
- Region
- Washington State
- Shelf barcode
- 0088586402845
Our take
What we make of this bottle
And the first thing that stands out is the price: in our September 2026 checks this Washington Merlot ran $10.99 to $17.99 across the stores checked.
The crowd has been kind. 19 shoppers rated it, and their scores land at 4.63 out of five. Those are scores from the shoppers who chose to rate it, not a tally of bottles sold.
Most of Washington's vineyards sit on the dry side of the state, east of the Cascade Range, where the mountains block the Pacific rain and the season runs to warm days, cool nights and a real winter frost risk. The state name covers 21 recognized growing areas rather than one, so it marks a broad origin. As for the grape, guides describe Merlot as ripening earlier than Cabernet Sauvignon and often rounder in structure, with plum and other red or dark fruit and less forceful tannin than Cabernet, a wine that can stand on its own or round out a firmer blend.
Columbia Crest's own product page does have an account of this bottle specifically: its tasting notes describe “a rich aromatic profile with notes of chocolate, cassis, and dark cherries”, with “complex and rich blackberry flavors” followed by “smooth, velvety tannins”. The winery describes its Grand Estates line overall as combining “artisan winemaking with the best vineyards in Washington State”. At the brand level, Columbia Crest's head winemaker since March 2024 is Guy Barnes, who started at the winery in 1999 as a harvest lab technician and worked his way up through its white-wine program over the next two decades before taking the top role. The winery also says its Washington vineyards run on precise drip irrigation, in a region that gets only six to eight inches of rain a year.
If you shop the red shelf mostly by price, that is where this one turns interesting too: its lowest price in those September 2026 checks, $10.99, lands among the least expensive reds we track.
Our call: this suits a shopper who wants a broad crowd reading and the producer's own account together, a Washington Merlot among the least expensive reds we track, rated 4.63 out of five by 19 shoppers, with the producer describing “chocolate, cassis, and dark cherries” finishing in “smooth, velvety tannins”. Pass if you want the producer's alcohol percentage or aging details before buying; Columbia Crest has not published either for this bottle.
The Grocery Store Wine Desk · written Sep 16, 2026 from our research file for this wine. Numbers reflect our latest checks.
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Read our take →The prices we checked
Dated store checks, not a promise about your store.
- Kroger, Atlanta suburbs, GA$10.99
- Kroger, Cincinnati, OH$12.99
- Fred Meyer, Portland, OR$17.99
- King Soopers, Colorado Springs, CO$10.99
- Kroger, Richmond, VA$13.99
- QFC, Tacoma, WA$12.99
The regular price can vary by store and date.
Research status
What we are still checking
Our overview above draws on the dated store feed, shopper ratings, our region and grape research, and any sourced producer facts. We are still working to confirm the current release, the full producer record, and the bottle itself, and we update this page as we learn more.
Getting to know Washington State.
A Washington label can point to a large state blend or to a narrower AVA. Most vineyards are east of the Cascade Range, but the exact AVA still matters because elevation, wind, rain and frost exposure change across the state.
What the name means
Washington is a state origin, not one American Viticultural Area. Its wine regions include 21 federally recognized AVAs, some shared with Oregon.
How grapes grow here
The Cascade Range blocks much of the Pacific rain from eastern Washington. That creates generally dry growing conditions with warm summer days, cool nights and winter frost risk, while western sites have stronger marine influence.
What lies under the vines
Flood deposits, windblown silt, sand, gravel and volcanic material occur across Washington wine country. A state name alone does not identify one soil or vineyard setting.
How large the region is
- Recognized AVAs
- 21 wine-growing areas are listed by the Washington State Wine Commission.
- Label resolution
- Washington State is broader than an AVA, so the bottle or producer must establish a more specific place.
Places within the region
- Columbia Valley
- A very large AVA that contains many of Washington's smaller wine regions and crosses into Oregon.
- Yakima Valley and Walla Walla Valley
- Two established AVAs within the broader eastern Washington landscape, each with its own boundaries and local conditions.
Getting to know Merlot.
Merlot is a red grape that can make a complete wine or soften a Cabernet-led blend. It generally ripens earlier than Cabernet Sauvignon and often has a rounder structure.
Category guide
What to expect in the glass
Regional guides describe plum and other red or dark fruit, with less forceful tannin than Cabernet Sauvignon in many examples. Climate and blending can make it fresh and medium-bodied or broader and richer.
Sources: New Zealand Winegrowers; Napa Valley Vintners. Checked Aug 10, 2026. See all 28 Merlot wines we cover →
Where this information comes from
- Store listing
- Price, package, product identifier, and shopper rating. Checked Aug 10, 2026.
- Barcode
- The shelf barcode shown here is computed from the store product identifier. It has not been checked against a bottle.
- Method
- Every price, rating and fact here is a dated observation. How we check.