2013 Seven Hills Klipsun Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon

Happy Tuesday, or election day here in Indiana.  I did my civic duty and voted early this morning, though I have no idea who finally came out on top, though I suppose it really matters little in the grand scheme of things.  More importantly, I cut the grass when I got home from work (have I mentioned that dandelions are the bane of my existence?) and now it's time for a nice glass of wine with dinner.  Tonight it's a special treat as I've opened a bottle of 2013 Seven Hills Klipsun Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon from the Red Mountain AVA.  This one's a bit young, but I doubt I'll be disappointed!

The wine is an inky black color in the glass, with bright ruby along the edges.  The nose presents aromas of earthy peat, toasted oak and a bit of smoke.  The taste is a lovely blast of ripe black fruit up front, with some blackberry and plum that transitions nicely to some dusty earthy notes midpalate along with some hints of caramel and cassis.  The finish is divine, as the young tannins provide a vibrant foundation to the long, luxurious and very dry finish.  This wine is still young but marvelous, and I'm sure it will develop exceedingly well in the coming decade.

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 9, as it's just a fabulous example of the varietal that's sure to improve with a little time in the cellar.  Tonight I am enjoying this with a classic Cabernet dinner of a rare grilled Angus New York Strip with grilled asparagus and oven roasted potatoes and shallots.  This is the sort of wine that could stand up to the biggest of steaks, cheers!

2008 Renwood Fiddletown Zinfandel

So tonight I've decided to open a bottle of Zinfandel since I'm looking for something a little more jammy to balance out my spicy dinner, after all, it's taco night!  And for this Zin we've traveled north into California gold country, Amador county in the foothills of the Sierras for the 2008 Renwood Fiddletown Zinfandel.  Now apparently the Fiddletown appellation is the oldest AVA in Amador County, and the vines tend to be at higher elevations than other vineyards in the county, about 1,800 feet higher in some cases, so let's see what that does to the wine.

The color is somewhat lighter than your typical Lodi Zin with a certain amount of opacity.  The nose is rich in fruit, with sweet ripe berries intermingled with cherries and plums, balanced by a bit of dusty spice.  The taste is surprisingly not as fruit forward as I would have expected, in fact it's like a delayed fuse as the first taste seems to be dominated by smoke, cedar and some spice, then an explosion of fruit midpalate, with rich plum and blackberries, fading into some peppery spice note on the finish.  The tannins are pretty big in this wine, supporting a very tight, dry finish.  This wine is a bit high in alcohol at 16%, but you'd never know it from the aroma or taste (I suppose that can be a good thing!).

Overall, I would rate this one a solid 7.5.  I'll be the first to admit that on the first taste I wasn't very impressed, but as the wine breathed a bit, it got its footing and was quite nice, and a good value as I think I bought this at World Market for about $9.  And tonight I'm having this with my favorite classic chorizo and frijole tacos, ole!

2001 L'Ecole No. 41 Walla Walla Cabernet Sauvignon

Time flies when you're having fun!  Here we are, already at my third Cellar Saturday, the first Saturday of the month where I open up a bottle of wine that's been waiting patiently in the cellar for me to finally open up and enjoy.  And this month we have a really special treat more than a decade in the making, and a wine from my all time favorite winery, L'Ecole No. 41 in Walla Walla!

What a wonderful wine, I can tell already!  The color is a rich, deep ruby color, and the nose is a wonderful blend of earthiness, oak, offsetting a sweet spiciness, that's a blend of cassis, cherry and blackberry, balancing out the spice of cinnamon and dark chocolate.  The taste is remarkable, with flavors of ripe fruit coming through despite the age, which are quickly overtaken by notes of cocoa powder and cherry cola, leading to a wonderful bit of mint and cedar with a hint of earthiness, and a classic flavor of rich, dark chocolate that is so characteristic of Walla Walla wines.  The finish is very long, dry and smooth, and after a decade, the tannins are still very well structured and vibrant, which is a perfect complement to the overall lush mouthfeel of this wine.

Given this is such a wonderful, classic wine, I better have something besides Taco Bell to enjoy this with, and yes, you know me better than that!  So I've paired this wine with a dinner that is a marriage of summer and fall, with the last bits of summer coming together with the very best of what fall has to offer.  I've started with the summer, a simple salad of sliced heirloom tomatoes with a bit of fresh basil, drizzled with 25-year balsamic vinegar.  And once that gets your tastebuds moving, the main course is a rare grilled angus ribeye, with sweet potato fries and grilled white, yellow and orange carrots, bringing in the classic root vegetables of fall.  And after all that, I'm ready for a nap!

Oh, but before I doze off in the La-Z-Boy, my rating!  I am totally biased, but I would have to rate this one a solid 9, as it's a stellar example of the wine, the terroir and the vintage, I just have no idea of the value since I bought this back in 2004!  In any case, I'll be enjoying this one again someday, as I still have another magnum left in the cellar!