Beginning on August 4th, the award winning Washington winery, Columbia Crest, will begin an 18-month long process of producing a Cabernet Sauvignon in a way that has never been done before. What makes this particular venture so unique is that, for the first time ever, the fans will be making all the decisions. Thanks to their new interactive website (CrowdsourcedCabernet.com), everyone from those with a casual interest in wine to accomplished connoisseurs will be involved in every part of the winemaking; literally from bud break to bottle.
To help this online community of wine-lovers craft an exceptional wine with little knowhow, the site will be offering several tools to turn us all into experts. Some of these include weather analytics, season-by-season data, and time-lapse camera shots down to the individual grape. They will even have Columbia Crest head winemaker Juan Muñoz Oca offering his advice and answering questions.
The reserve grapes will be grown in the same acre of vineyard as those of the Columbia Crest 2005 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, winner of the No.1 Wine in the World designation from Wine Spectator magazine in 2009. When all is said and done these exceptional fruits are expected to yield 1,000 cases of the Crowdsourced Cabernet 2014 vintage.
Ultimately, if you want to be able to impress at your future dinner parties with how you ‘made this wine yourself’ without having to do anything more than click your mouse a few times, you should definitely get involved. Be sure to check back in with us often to get updates on the process from start to finish.
This post is sponsored by Columbia Crest – All opinions are mine.
