Nine Hats 2015 Red Wine, Columbia Valley, $20
Nine of the planet’s most famous vintners are part of the renowned Long Shadows Vintners project in Walla Walla, and they work with some of the Columbia Valley’s top vineyards. There’s not room for all of that juice under Long Shadows brand, so founder Allen Shoup and director of winemaking, Gilles Nicault, use select lots for their Nine Hats brand. Three out of the past four vintages of this proprietary blend have earned our top rating. The latest is loaded with Cabernet Sauvignon (41%) from Wallula Vineyard in the Horse Heaven Hills and Syrah (50%), and the opulent oak program leads to aromas of roasted coffee and toast with plum and blueberry. Plum and black cherry flavors lead to fine-grained tannins akin to espresso grounds joined by Marionberry juice, setting up a long, silky and bright finish. Production has been increased by nearly 2,000 cases from the prior vintage, and it still merited a gold medal at the 2017 Cascadia Wine Competition.
Rating: Outstanding!
Production: 5,240 cases
Alcohol: 14.9%
Burnt Bridge Cellars listed at 15.7% alcohol. You guys palate orientation is showing. Of course maybe there the only one listing actual alcohols. The overly jammy black fruit dominated wines do a disservice to the wines WA could create. This big sappy wines show little to no complexity beyond black fruit. At least step outside your comfort zone and include some wines made in a more elegant refined character. You can certainly qualify that they are a atypical style for most NW consumers might have experienced but at least we can expose people to stylistic differences and maybe change the many people I encounter who dismiss NW red wines because they are so rich and jammy.
Greetings, Jeffrey.
We evaluate every wine blind and enjoy a wide variety of them. In this case, the use of the word “hedonism” is a reference to the voluptuous alcohol of the Blend X. We don’t hide that. And yet, we found this wine balanced to our palates. It’s tasty juice.
Others made by Burnt Bridge Cellars are presented in a similar style, and we’ve enjoyed those, too. True, they might not be as versatile of a food wine as others, but after all, wine is an alcoholic beverage. And we are not the only critics in the U.S. to enjoy a red wine offered in this style.
As you pointed out, there are many styles of wine produced in the Pacific Northwest, and we enjoy sharing our reviews of those wines. Along the way, we publish the listed ABV for each one. As you note, I suspect some wineries are more honest about that stat than others.
In closing, thank you for taking the time to leave a comment and for helping to champion Pacific Northwest wines.
Eric I do appreciate you taking the time, as well, to reply. I will try to acquire the burnt bridge and make my own evaluation only because I am curious as to how you balance 15.7% alcohol. Acid additions must be required.
thanks again.