2014 Seven Hills "Along for the Ride" Dolcetto

Happy Pi Day!  It was a banner day today, we had free burritos at Qdoba's soft opening here in Elkhart (this will definitely be long-term trouble!) and now I've come home from the gym ready to relax with a glass of wine.  Tonight's is a fun one, a wine I just received from a wine club shipment last week and I immediately fell in love with the label, the 2014 Seven Hills "Along for the Ride" Dolcetto, which is 100% Dolcetto from the Lonesome Springs Vineyard and meant to be enjoyed young!  So here goes nothing!

The wine is a lovely deep garnet color in the glass.  The nose presents a lovely variety of black fruit aromas, blackberry, black cherry and plum overlaying a bit of floral and spice notes.  The taste is wonderfully fruit forward with a blast of ripe berries and cherry cola that transition effortlessly to some wonderful white pepper spice notes midpalate.  The tannins are young and firm, supporting a wonderfully smooth and very dry finish.

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 8.5 as it's a perfect everyday drinking wine that I wish I ordered more of!  It would pair well with pizza, a variety of Italian pasta dishes, or even barbecue.  But tonight I am enjoying this wine with some tacos!  The fruit marries so well with a bit of chorizo in the tacos, yum!  And how could you not love that label?

2012 Clos du Val Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Well it's Saturday and ever so close to springtime, after all, we "spring forward" tonight!  So after working in the yard all afternoon, I've decided to relax a bit before having dinner and heading to the theater tonight.  So I've opened a bottle that I just picked up from my supermarket this morning, as they were having a 15% off wine sale and I bought a couple bottles of 2012 Clos Du Val Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.

The wine is a deep inky purple at the center with bright ruby along the edges, just as you'd expect from a nice Napa cab.  The nose presents aromas of leather, blackberry and a hint of lilac.  The taste is just wonderful, with a blast of fresh black fruit up front, blackberry, cherry and plum that transition nicely to some mineral notes of basalt and limestone midpalate.  The tannins are somewhat tight, but very supportive of the warm, smooth dry finish.

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 8.5, as it's just a lovely example of a Napa Cabernet from the stellar 2012 vintage.  It was also a good value as I picked this one up for less than $25 today!  It would pair well with a big steak or a variety of hearty beef dishes, but tonight I am opting for a little surf and turf, with a petit filet mignon grilled rare along with a grilled lobster tail, baked potato and some grilled white asparagus.  Cheers!

2013 The Federalist Cabernet Sauvignon

Happy Hump Day!  Tonight I have a special treat, a bottle of wine that I confess I totally bought for the label, the 2013 The Federalist Cabernet Sauvignon from Lodi!  I saw this in the supermarket a few months back and with the lettering and the engraving of Ben Franklin, I thought I have to buy this, even if the wine isn't good, I'm a big history fan and this is big history!  This wine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (87%), Merlot (6%), Cabernet Franc (4%), Petit Sirah (2%) and Sangiovese (1%).  Besides, although I really like the Zinfandels from Lodi, they do all right with Cabs as well.  So let's see how this stacks up to history!

The wine is bright ruby in the glass with nice clarity.  The nose presents aromas of leather, green grass, black currant and boysenberry.  The taste is quite nice, with a rush of black fruit up front, currant, plum and cassis that transitions nicely to some lovely mineral notes of limestone and tobacco midpalate.  The finish is very nice, with well structured tannins supporting a long, smooth and very dry finish that seems to last a minute or more.

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 7.5, as it's surprisingly good for a mass market wine, and it was a solid value as I think I bought this on sale for less than $10!  Tonight I am enjoying this wine with a classic midweek dinner of chorizo and black bean tacos, as this wine complements the flavors and doesn't make you feel bad for enjoying it midweek!  Cheers!