Our take
Columbia Crest Grand Estates Red Blend Washington Red Wine
- Style
- Red wine
- Size
- 750 ml
- Region
- Washington State
- Shelf barcode
- 0088586004605
Our take
What we make of this bottle
This is a red blend, and the shelf listing does not say which grapes make it up; Columbia Crest's own product page for it doesn't say either, only confirming that it sits inside the winery's Grand Estates collection alongside the Grand Estates Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Merlot and Syrah. The label names Washington State, which covers 21 recognized growing areas rather than one; our Washington research notes that most of them lie east of the Cascade Range, where the mountains hold back the Pacific's rain and leave warm days, cool nights and real winter frost risk for the growing season.
Columbia Crest's own account of this bottle describes “aromas of red cherry, dark plum, and sweet tobacco” opening into “a round entry” of “blackberry, and peppercorn” that leads to “a long and smooth finish,” the producer's words. The winery does not publish which grapes go into the blend, their proportions, or an alcohol percentage for this wine. At the brand level, Columbia Crest says it was founded in 1982 as the first winery in the Horse Heaven Hills AVA, in Paterson, Washington, and its parent, Ste. Michelle Wine Estates, counts it among its Pacific Northwest estates. Its head winemaker since March 2024, Guy Barnes, started at the winery in 1999 as a harvest lab technician and spent the next two decades working through its white-wine program before taking the top role; the winery adds that its Washington vineyards run on precise drip irrigation, in a region that gets only six to eight inches of rain a year.
We do not have a shopper rating for this wine. In our September 2026 checks it ranged from $12.99 to $17.99 across two stores.
Our call: this suits a shopper who wants the producer's own tasting account, dark cherry, plum, tobacco and peppercorn finishing smooth, plus a winery with a stated four-decade history in the Horse Heaven Hills. Pass if you want to know exactly what is in the glass; Columbia Crest has not published which grapes make up this blend, in what proportion, or the wine's alcohol percentage, and no shopper rating is on our record yet.
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.
- Fred Meyer, Portland, OR$17.99
- QFC, Tacoma, WA$12.99
The regular price can vary by store and date.
From the producer
Founding and Horse Heaven Hills
Columbia Crest says it was founded in 1982 as the very first winery in the Horse Heaven Hills AVA in Paterson, Washington, and parent company Ste. Michelle Wine Estates lists Columbia Crest among its Pacific Northwest estates.
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.
Where this information comes from
- Store listing
- Price, package, product identifier. Checked Aug 14, 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.