Intrinsic Cabernet Sauvignon Washington Red Wine

Start with what the name leaves out. Washington on this label is a state origin, and the label goes no further, so the question of which growing area produced these grapes stays open. The producer is even less documented: we have not yet verified a single fact about Intrinsic Wine from a source we can cite.

The narrower names matter because Washington is not one growing condition. The state holds 21 federally recognized wine-growing areas, a few of them shared with Oregon, and elevation, wind, rainfall and frost exposure change from one to the next. A Washington label can point to a wide state blend or to one of those narrower areas; this one names only the state.

The grape is the better-documented half of the name. Official guides call Cabernet Sauvignon a red grape that makes firmly built wines and is a common component of red blends; the fruit references they list are black currant, cherry and plum, with noticeable tannin and, in some bottlings, spice from oak. Those guides add that ripeness, climate and winemaking can move individual wines between leaner and fuller versions. The specific numbers here: 42 shoppers have rated this bottle, and their average is 4.79 out of five. The low we saw in our September 2026 checks was $21.99.

The highest was $25.99, and the spread comes from four stores checked. The most recent of those checks was made on August 12, 2026.

That gap has narrowed since: our research record now traces Intrinsic to a 2016 launch under winemaker Juan Muñoz-Oca, who also serves as head winemaker at sister brand Columbia Crest, with both brands sitting inside Chateau Ste. Michelle Wine Estates. The same background credits the wine with an extended nine months of time on the grape skins, well beyond the under-one-month typical for red wine production, as the producer's account of where its texture comes from. Intrinsic's own product page also names Columbia Valley as this Cabernet's appellation, and describes “an herbal and floral nose” over black cherry, with a palate of “dried cherries, pomegranate and cocoa” finishing “rustic, yet silky” and long, the producer's words.

Our call: pick it if a Washington Cabernet with both a maker's story and the crowd on its side works for you; Intrinsic now has a confirmed origin, winemaker Juan Muñoz-Oca and Chateau Ste. Michelle Wine Estates behind it, and a respectable pool of shopper ratings places the bottle above the middle of the rated wines we cover. Pass if you specifically want an independent, small-producer story; Intrinsic sits inside the largest wine company in Washington State, and a shopper who prizes independence over scale has a fair reason to look elsewhere.

The Grocery Store Wine Desk · written Sep 16, 2026 from our research file for this wine. Numbers reflect our latest checks.