2014 Seven Hills Pepper Bridge Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon

Happy Friday!  It's been a busy week of travel, but at least the highlight of the week was that I received three cases of wine from one of my favorite Walla Walla wineries, Seven Hills!  And although there were a number of different wines in those cases that we'll explore over the coming months, tonight I've decided to open a bottle of 2014 Seven Hills Pepper Bridge Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon.  This one is special to me as I recall first trying a Cabernet from the Pepper Bridge Vineyard back in 2003 when I was living in Seattle, so let's see how this one stacks up!

The wine is a deep, inky purple at the center, with bright ruby along the edges.  The nose is a magnetic chorus of leather, cedar, boysenberry and a hint of white pepper that combine to suggest something really special is about to happen to your palate.  The taste is an eye opening rush of fruit, with pronounced black cherry that settles in to some more subtle notes of mocha and dark chocolate.  The tannins are still young but remarkably smooth and well integrated, providing the perfect backdrop for the long, voluptuous and very dry finish that seems to last a minute or more.

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 9.5, with some modest room for improvement with time in the cellar - it's drinking very nicely now, I can only imagine what it will be like in the early 2020s.  This is a classic big steak sort of wine, which is a good thing since tonight it's 74 degrees and time to grill a nice big Angus New York Strip, along with some grilled asparagus and a baked potato.  It's springtime and this is a perfect way to welcome the warm weather!  Cheers!