Meridian Vineyards began life as an offshoot of California's Beringer Vineyards in St. Helena in 1988. Meridian's vineyards are in Paso Robles, California, in California's Central Coast region. Located roughly halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco, the Central Coast is especially known for old vine Zinfandels. Wine maker Lee Miyamura earned a B.A. in Biology with an emphasis in Molecular Biology and a Chemistry minor. Her plan when she graduated was to work in Biotech, but after taking what she thought was a temporary job in Beringer's QA lab she was hooked. In 1985 she took a permanent position as a QA technician. She moved to Meridian in 1990, and took a position as a wine chemist, and, working her way up the ladder, was promoted to Meridian's winemaker of white wines. In 2005, she was named Meridian's winemaker.

Meridian is another of those California wineries that produces table wines, and is not even a little bit snobbish about it. Last year a friend recommended trying Meridian's Cabernet Sauvignon in part because she was astonished at the price locally (anywhere from 7.00 to 5.99) after seeing the Meridian Cabernet on restaurant menus for twenty dollars a bottle. This was the Cabernet Sauvignon that first made me realize what a cab could be, that it didn't have to so very oaky that it was bitter. The fact that I enjoyed the Meridian Cabernet Sauvignon encouraged me to try various Washington Cabernet Sauvignons (and yes, I am very much like the Columbia Crest Grande Estates and the lower tier Columbia Crest Two Vines Cabernet Sauvignon). I note that there are some very different opinions out there, though I am not alone in my appreciation.

The Meridian 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon is cherry and currant on the nose, and a lovely deep red currant color in the glass. The full, rich and spicy aspects of Cabernet Sauvignon are all apparent, with hints of blackberry and plum. I haven't had this Cabernet for quite a while; I've been mostly trying extreme budget Cabernets from California and Australia, and while yes, there are some quite drinkable wines in the under five dollars category, this is in a completely different experience. I'm looking forward to trying the other tier of Meridian wines, their Limited Releases. These are only available directly from Meridian, via the Web site, or a winery visit, and are carefully crafted small batch wines. There's a wide range to varietals, representing just about all the varietals California's Central coast produces, including a small cluster of Zinfandels.