Washington wine suggestions?

[mdougm]

I'm planning a wedding and looking for some wine suggestions. My target price point is $10-12/bottle, looking to get about three cases total. What I'm looking for is:

1) A balanced red, not super-fruity. I'm not that familiar with Washington wines but a lot of the Oregon Pinot that I've tried has too much light berry flavor for my taste. Maybe a syrah or malbec?

2) A white towards the dry end. Maybe a Sauvingnon Blanc or a Pinot Gris with more of a mineral character...

I'll be purchasing these in Seattle, so it would be ideal if they were either widely available or if you could also let me know where in Seattle I might buy it. Thanks in advance for any help!

[Gizmo56]

For the red, I'd recommend the "CMS" blend (cabernet-merlot-syrah) from Hedges. Widely available even in supermarkets, just under $10 retail, and of course even less after standard discounts for case purchases. Very balanced and quite pleasant. See: http://shop.hedgesfamilyestate.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=7

For the white, I think that the Erath Pinot Gris from Oregon meets your goals, and is also just comfortably under your price point. It too is very widely available. See: http://www.erath.com/wines/release/514

As an alternative white, there is also a Sauvignon Blanc with the Hedges/CMS moniker. I don't like it as much as the Erath (or as the CMS red), but for a dry (and kind of "neutral" tasting "safe-for-a-crowd") white wine, it works. See: http://www.erath.com/wines/release/514

[knowspicker]

+1 on CMS Red. I've bought for numerous events and it's always popular. You can also buy it by the case/bottle at Costco for a good price.

[Leper]

Gizmo, Excellent recommendations for that price point.

[Gizmo56]

~thanks~

[cocktailhour]

I like Pike and Western in the Market and McCarthy and Schiering. I would say Syrah for your red, but it's a pretty low price point for Washington. You may want to try Chateau St. Michelle. It's a much larger winery than some, but it is typically good and will have more price point vairety. Columbia Crest is also consistently decent. If you want to do a mixed case and splurge on a few bottles, look at K winery. I usually love the K Syrah (but then I go for bad puns). There is a magazine called Northwest Palate that you should check out--lots of tasting notes.

[Booklegger451]

A tasting trip to Woodinville might find you some real winners, if you're going to be here a few days in advance. Woodinville is just 20ish minutes from Seattle, and has a ton of wine makers offering tastings.

I'd recommend a taste of Elevation Cellars Imperium, a quite dry, and somewhat atypical Reisling as a possibility for your white selection.

I'd also be sure to hit Delille Cellars... you won't find a wedding choice there, but many of their wines are very worth tasting.

[firecracker]

Try Pete's Eastlake (Joel if he's still there), Pete's Bellevue or Total Wine for their advice. They won't steer you wrong and will be happy to order it for you.