Castle Rock 2007 cabernet Columbia valley

During the week I try out wines in the below $ 10 range. Lately the magic number has been $ 5.99 . It seems at around $ 6 one can find a wine that really tastes good and does a good job of coming close to the quality of much pricier offerings . The Castle Rock Columbia Valley cab '07 promised to have that nice Washington state earthiness and full body that I have come to like in the last 5-6 years. The lable stated " Aged 18 months in oak barrels", usually a sign of a good red. What I got was a really fruity red with a touch of that "Radiator flush " quality in the background.......not a heavy dose of it, just enough to dissapoint me a little. I still had a second glass but it was a job to finish it. This may be a good value and it really isn't bad at all, but there are others that outshine it at $ 5.99 and even $ 4.99. I'll be discussing those in upcoming posts. I'll rate this one six out if ten swiggs.