2010 Seven Hills Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon

Well, Washington Wine Month is coming to an end, and despite that fact that I am starting to battle a cold, I felt it important to end this special month with a bang, so I've cracked open a bottle that I just received in my wine club shipment last week, the 2010 Seven Hills Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon.  Now unlike some wineries, Seven Hills doesn't produce a reserve wine every year, in fact the last one was the 2008 Red Mountain Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, and I don't even recall the last one prior to that one (I just looked, and this is only the tenth reserve Cabernet from Seven Hills, this one sourced from the old vines at the Seven Hills Vineyard and the Fire Ridge Vineyard).  So it's definitely a special sort of wine.

The wine is a deep, inky purple in the glass with bright ruby along the edges.  The nose tells me immediately I'm in for a treat, with aromas of rich leather, blueberries, plum and spice notes.  The taste is intense, with a burst of ripe black fruit, plum, blackberries and black currant that gracefully transitions to some dark chocolate and licorice notes midpalate.  The finish is just outstanding, as the structure of the tannins are so well ingrained with the fruit that you end up with a powerful finish that lasts seemingly forever, or at least until you take another sip, which you can't help but oblige!

Overall I would rate this wine a solid 9, it truly is an outstanding effort, but it's priced accordingly at $75, not including any wine club discounts.  This is a wine I would have absolutely no problems bringing to my bosses house for dinner, and he drinks some spectacular wines!  Tonight I am enjoying this wine with the simplest of immigrant dishes Polish galumpkis, or stuffed cabbage rolls, which I stuffed with some ground beef, ground sausage and rice.  This wine would also be perfect for a rare grilled porterhouse with all the fixin's (yes, I said "fixin's"!) or a variety of earthy, spicy dishes.  Cheers!