8 Winning Washington Red Values at $35 or Less

Washington state's sprawling Columbia Valley excels with a wide range of wines, but reds remain a specialty, particularly Cabernet Sauvignons and Syrahs. Home to 99 percent of Washington's wine grape vineyards, the valley has about 60,000 acres of vines and is a patchwork of 14 subappellations that each bring distinctive qualities to the resulting wines. This week's selection of new releases aptly demonstrates that the state's value reds are often blends of grapes from multiple subregions, most bearing the Columbia Valley designation on their labels.

Let's start with a couple of Cabernets under $20. Rob Griffin and his wife, Deborah Barnard, founded Barnard Griffin in 1983 and have been producing appealing, affordable wines ever since. Daughter Megan Hughes has taken over the winemaking, and her 2021 Columbia Valley Cabernet (which was aged 12 months in upright European oak tanks) highlights the house style: elegantly structured with refined black cherry and currant flavors and a sleek finish. The grapes come from three vineyards: Sagemoor in White Bluffs, Black Rock in Yakima Valley and Arete in Columbia Valley.

This lineup also includes Gramery Cellars' Lower East The Bowery Columbia Valley 2019, a red with appealing currant, mineral and tea notes. Read on to get our score and full tasting note for this Washington state wine and seven others!

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