2023 Seven Hills Walla Walla Carmenere

Happy Saturday!  I spent the afternoon in the yard, pulling a lot of weed and inadvertently transplanting some irises that I pulled up with some of the weeds.  But now it's time to relax in the air conditioning and maybe stop sweating for a while, and of course enjoy dinner and a nice bottle of wine.  Tonight, I've opened a bottle of 2023 Seven Hills Walla Walla Carmenere, a wine made from the "lost" Bordeaux varietal that's made a come back over the past few decades.  So let's see how this wine is tasting!

The wine is a deep ruby in the glass and the nose presents aromas of ripe berries, raspberries, blackberries and currant, that give way to notes of leather, dark chocolate and tobacco.  The first sip is an interesting combination of ripe red fruit with hints of mint, that transitions to some notes of earthy peat and dried herbs midpalate.  The tannins are smooth and supple providing just the right base for a lovely warm, dry finish. 

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 8.5, as it strikes me as easy drinking and food friendly.  And speaking of food, I have a pronounced habit of enjoying a nice Carmenere with tacos, as this strikes me as a perfect taco wine.  To be sure, it would also pair well with pasta, steaks, barbecue or pizza, but tonight it's steak fajita tacos with all the trimmings!  Cheers!

2013 DaMa Wines Columbia Valley Grenache

Happy Friday!  I'm so glad it's the weekend!  It's been a long week and tonight I got to leave work a little after 4:00 so I had an hour and a half of daylight to blow leaves before the thunderstorms started.  I made progress and got the patio and deck done, so I'm seeing some light at the end of the tunnel, I just hope it's not an oncoming train!  So once it got dark I had to go to Mishawaka to get a gift for my friend's son who's third birthday party is tomorrow, and since I was out there I decided to stop at Costco (oh what fun!).  More on that later, but since I picked up something good for dinner I've decided to open a bottle of a recent wine club shipment, the 2013 DaMa Wines Columbia Valley Grenache, a 100% Grenache from the Lonesome Spring Vineyard in the Columbia Valley appellation!

The wine is very light, with a bright ruby color in the glass, classic Grenache. The nose presents aromas of dried cherries and raspberries along with hints of leather and tobacco. The taste is just wonderful with subdued red fruit notes at the outset, raspberry and cherry that transition easily to some lovely mineral notes along with some vanilla bean midpalate.  The finish is wonderfully dry and long, with a level of smoothness in the tannins that belies the youth of this wine.

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 8.5 as it's just a gorgeous example of the varietal.  And of course, since I visited Costco on a Friday evening, the seafood booth was ready for me and I picked up a big bag of fresh mussels, which of course means moules frites for dinner!  I simmered the mussels with some olive oil, garlic and shallots and a bit of dry white wine and then served them with some classic fries seasoned with sea salt, pepper and parmesan.  What a way to end the week!

2014 Helix Stone Tree SoRho

Happy Friday!  It's amazing how fast the time goes by, it seems like only weeks ago it was summer and now it's fall, with changing colors on the leaves and crisp air...wait a minute it was only weeks ago that it was summer!  Tell me again what's so tricky about this time passing thing?  Anyway, I woke up this morning to a seasonable 39 degrees and thought, man I need to start eating more hearty dinners or perhaps I'll soon need to turn the furnace on, but in any case I've decided to open a bottle of wine I received in a wine club shipment last week from one of my favorite Washington Wineries, Reininger!  In this case I've opened a bottle of 2014 Helix SoRho, a Southern Rhone style blend of Mourvedre (51%), Cinsault (29%) and Grenache (20%) from the Stone Tree Vineyard in the Wahluke Slope AVA of Washington.

The wine is a touch darker than what is common for Rhone style blends.  The nose presents aromas of blueberries, raspberries and lavender.  The flavors are quite nice, with a soft burst of red berry fruit up front, that transitions nicely to some strawberry compote and mineral notes midpalate.  The tannins are somewhat soft, but they balance the more modest acidity of the fruit to set up the long, smooth and very dry finish.

Overall, I'd rate this wine a solid 8.5, as I think I like this one better than past vintages, with a much better balance of fruit and acidity to make this a pleasant sipping wine.  Tonight I am enjoying this wine with a classic Chicago Polish dinner of kielbasa, sweet kraut and sauteed pierogis with onions and sour cream.  The wine really complements the richness of the sausage and the acidity of the kraut.  Cheers!

2013 Ruffino Chianti

Here we are at the second post of my reviews of the Ruffino wines we recently tasted during the Snooth.com virtual tasting, the 2013 Ruffino Chiant!  Although this is my second post, this is actually the first wine we tasted, being the youngest and lightest of the four wines.  This wine is a blend of mainly Sangiovese (70%) with the balance made up of red varietals including Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.  So here goes nothing!

The color is a bright ruby in the glass with great clarity.  The nose is chock full of red fruit, raspberries, cherries and plum with a bit of a floral note over the top.  The taste is wonderfully fruity, with some red berries and cherries up front that transition nicely to some hints of spice midpalate,  The typically robust tannins complement the bright acidity of the wine cementing a crisp, dry finish.

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 7.5, it's a very good Chianti at a tremendous value price of around $8.  This wine would be the perfect summer red, light, and perfect for a cool June evening on the patio.  Tonight I am sipping this with some olives and a bit of Podda cheese, enjoying the first of some spring weather, cheers!

2012 Seven Hills Carmenere

Happy Friday!  I am done with the first week of the two busiest weeks of my year, so I think it's time for a little celebration and what better way than with a bottle of nice red wine from the Walla Walla Valley?  Tonight I've opened a bottle of 2012 Seven Hills Carmenere, their fourth release of the varietal in the past decade.

The wine is a deep garnet color in the glass, rich and vibrant.  The nose is quite nice, with a nice presence of ripe red fruit, raspberries and red currant intermingled with some nice herb notes and a hint of earthiness.  The taste is quite nice, with some ripe berries up front than linger for a bit, transitioning to some nice spice notes of white pepper and just a hint of Provencal herbs.  The finish is vibrant, with somewhat mellow tannins offering a lovely bridge between the fruit and herb notes amid the smooth, dry finish.

Overall I would rate this wine a solid 8, a very food friendly offering at a good value, this one was $30 before my wine club discount.  Tonight I'm pairing this with a rather unorthodox dinner of king crab legs, with some herb roasted purple fingerling potatoes and steamed Brussels sprouts.  The pronounced fruit and spice in this wine is a perfect balance to the richness of the crab.  Salut!

2012 Castlebank "Vivian's Vineyard" Dry Creek Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Happy Friday everyone!  And of course to start the weekend we should enjoy a nice bottle of wine, and tonight I'm having a bottle of 2012 Castlebank "Vivian's Vineyard" Dry Creek Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, a bottle that I just received today from the fine folks at Wines Till Sold Out.

The wine is a nice deep ruby in the glass and the nose is a rich, jammy combination of raspberries, blackberries and cherry cola with some interesting floral notes and vanilla over the top.  The taste is quite nice, but somewhat surprising as the nose tricked my brain into expecting somewhat more of a jammy sort of Zinfandel type wine but this was nothing of the sort.  There was good fruit at the outset but it quickly transitioned into some wonderful mineral and spice notes, dusty limestone and smoky oak with a hint of white pepper.  The finish was sublime, as some wonderful cherry cola notes mingled with the firm but well integrated tannins to provide for a long smooth and very dry finish that had me wanting more.

Overall I would rate this wine a solid 8, as it's a very solid Cabernet at an absolutely fantastic value at about $14!  Tonight I am enjoying this wine with a rather non-traditional pairing, but still a classic summer supper of jalapeno brats with some fresh grilled corn on the cob and fresh sliced tomatoes.  The wine stands up nicely to the rich spiciness of the sausage but brings out the freshness of the vegetables.  It would also be great with a big ol' steak or some hearty pasta dishes.  Cheers!

2007 Gordon Brothers Columbia Valley Merlot

Happy Friday!  And of course to start the weekend, we need some great food and some wine, check and check!  I stopped at my local wine store on the way home from work and found two interesting Washington wines that I hadn't seen before, one of which I will enjoy with the Hereford ribeye I picked up at my second stop to the butcher before picking up my dry cleaning (it's really not easy being me!).  So the wine I'll enjoy tonight is the 2007 Gordon Brothers Columbia Valley Merlot, a wine from a producer based in the tri-cities, specifically in Pasco, Washington.

The wine is a deep, inky purple, almost black at the center of the glass, typical of a classic Merlot (and don't give me any of your sideways comments!).  The nose is very attractive, with notes of black fruit overlaid with some nice cedar, leather and a hint of cocoa powder.  The taste is classic Merlot, but with a bit of a twist, as it's somewhat lighter at the outset, with flavors of blueberry and raspberry, but then it really transforms midpalate with some dark chocolate and dusty limestone.  The tannins are very nicely integrated leading to a velvety and extremely dry finish that seems to last a minute or more.  A very nice Merlot!

Overall I would rate this wine a solid 8, as it's a lovely drinking Merlot with great quality at a super value price as I found this one locally for just $21!  Tonight I am enjoying this with the aforementioned steak, grilled rare and topped with bleu cheese crumbles, a baked potato with butter and sour cream and some haricots vert almondine.  This is a truly ideal wine for pairing with a big grilled steak as it certainly has the chops to stand up to the chops!  Cheers!

2011 Shooting Star Canernet Sauvignon

You know, I can admit it, sometimes I'm a really shallow wine drinker.  Take tonight's wine for example, the 2011 Shooting Star Cabernet Sauvignon from Lake County California. Did I buy this wine based on recommendations? Reviews? Some technical specification?  Nope. I bought it because the label looked really cool with this retro sort of Art Deco look I love!  So there you have it, sometimes the marketing geniuses designing packaging win!

To the wine, it's a lit lighter in color than a typical big California Cabernet but it's still a lovely deep ruby color in the glass. The nose is very thick with ripe jammy fruit, raspberries, cherries, plum amid a background of oak. The taste is surprisingly not sweet or jammy as the nose would suggest but instead it's very austere.  You are greeted with a lovely combination of tart cherry, raspberries and fresh herbs that transitions to some stark minerality mid palate. The tannins are very nicely structured giving rise to a very smooth and dry finish.
 

 

Overall I would rate this wine a solid 7.5, as it's a lovely food friendly wine at a descent price (I found this bottle for $17). The lightness a structure of this wine make it much more versatile than a standard big Cabernet, so you don't feel as bad enjoying it with a meal that's not a big steak!  Tonight I am enjoying this wine with a classic northwest dinner of alder planked Alaska sockeye with some fresh asparagus and oven roasted fingerling potatoes. Delicious!