The holiday season can be such a busy time I hardly even have time to enjoy a bottle of wine! Today was a whirlwind of activity as I completed my Christmas decorations, including decorating three trees, hanging up the Edison lights and setting up the big train set around the big Christmas tree in the family room (I haven't done that in at least four years!) and now I'm ready for dinner and then tacking the Christmas card list! So tonight I've opened up a bottle of a recent wine club shipment from Seven Hills Winery and normally I wait at least a year or two to open a Pentad, but I recently had a conversation with my friend Jacque at Seven Hills and she told me that a local wine professional gave her a hint to open the wine in the morning and just leave it all day and then decant it about an hour before you plan to drink it. So, I've used this trick for the 2017 Seven Hills Pentad I've opened tonight, though since this is the first time I've tried this wine I'll have no way of knowing if it worked! At any rate, the Pentad for 2017 is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (55%) with the balance divided nearly equally between Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Carmenere, so now off to the wine!
The wine is a deep ruby color in the glass, just as you'd expect from such a blend. The nose is chock full of leather, oak, ripe black fruit, spicy pepper and a hint of tobacco, that signals your brain it's in for a treat. The taste is a rush of blackberry, cherry and plum that easily give way to some wonderful spice notes of white pepper. The tannins are gracefully smooth providing nice balance and structure for the long, smooth and very dry finish that lingers with a reprise of cherry cola.
Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 9, as it's a pleasure to drink now but will surely mature and really shine over the coming decade. This wine is perfect for the holidays as it would pair well with everything from Christmas ham to prime rib. Tonight I am enjoying this wine with a New York strip grilled rare on top of some grilled leeks
along with a big baked potato with all the trimmings and some bacon roasted purple Brussels sprouts. Cheers and now it's time to make out Christmas Cards!
No comments:
Post a Comment