2014 Seven Hills Pentad

Happy Saturday!  It's been a dreary and rainy day here, so I thought I'd brighten the mood a bit with a nice bottle of wine.  Tonight I've decided to open a bottle from one of my favorite wineries, Seven Hills and specifically a wine that's not produced every year, the Pentad!  This Bordeaux style blend is only produced when conditions are right, so although we have seen the release of a 2014 and just recently a 2015 vintage, prior to that we only saw the Pentad released in 2012, then earlier in 2009 and 2007, so in all, we have seen only 10 vintages released with the 2015.  The 2014 Vintage is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (61%), Petit Verdot (19%), Malbec (9%), Cabernet Franc (7%) and Merlot (4%) from the Walla Walla Valley AVA, so let's see how last year's wine if faring!

The wine is a deep inky color with bright ruby along the edges, suggestive of the heavy presence of Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend.  The nose is a lovely combination of leather, blackberry, clove and dried spice that welcomes you to take a sip.  The taste is wonderfully smooth and balanced, with casual notes of ripe black fruit intermingled with mocha and dark chocolate that transitions to some lovely green herb notes just before the finish.  And the finish is lovely, with chewy tannins that make for a long, firm and exceptionally dry finish that lasts a minute or more.

Overall, this wine is really the gold standard in Walla Walla Bordeaux Style blends and I'd rate this one an easy 9, perhaps even a 9.5 with another couple years in the cellar.  This wine is very food friendly, and best enjoyed with a nice family dinner or some cheese and charcuterie with friends.  This wine would pair well with a variety of steaks and chops, heavier Italian pastas or beautiful autumn stews, but tonight I am enjoying this wine with a rare grilled New York strip along with some bucatini tossed with garlic, olive oil and broccoli rabe.  The wine really stands up well to beef, cheers!