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Mt. Hood Winery

Mt. Hood Winery 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon

It doesn’t get any better than this.

“Come for the wine, stay for the views” is the motto for Mt. Hood Winery. Just step into their tasting room and you’ll know why. You’ll also know why Northwest Wine Press voted them the best Oregon winery in 2016.

After five generations of fruit growers in the Bickford family, brothers Steve and Don Bickford opened the winery and tasting room in 2009 exactly 100 years after the founding of the farm.

How did it happen?

Well, a friend in the Willamette Valley had some extra plantings and Steve decided to take a risk. A big one – he planted 4000 vines in that first planting! But Steve, along with his brother Don and his sister-in-law Libby, was determined to start down the path to winemaking.

Today, they’ve got a beautiful winery in the Hood River Valley that celebrates the history of farming in their family along with an absolutely stunning view of Mt. Hood.

Mt. Hood Winery

Cellar 503 Tasting Notes

Mt. Hood Winery, Hood River, Oregon
2014 Cabernet Sauvignon

While most of the fruit for Mt. Hood Winery’s wines comes from their own vineyards, a little trial-and-error demonstrated clearly that Cabernet Sauvignon isn’t right thing to grow in in their neck of the woods.

So, the fruit for this Cab comes from the Echo Vineyard-- a few hours east in Echo, Oregon. Next time you’re on the road to La Grande or Pendleton, do yourself a favor and stop in Echo. It’s a tiny, one-stoplight town surrounded by rolling hills of vineyards all the way down to the Columbia River. More than a few wines are being sourced from those rolling hills – and they’re all so, so good.

Mt. Hood’s 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon, produced by local winemaker Rich Cushman, is a rich and full-bodied wine with ripe dark fruit flavors of blackberry and black current, layered with notes of cedar wood, tobacco and toasty oak. Try serving it alongside hearty stews or beef stroganoff.

A Cellar 503 selection in August 2016, Wines from the Columbia Gorge Columbia Valley | Cabernet Sauvignon