WTN: tween-aged Hedges

Hedges Family Estate 2005 Red Mountain "Three Vineyards." A blend of 61% Merlot, 36% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 3% Cab Franc; 13.3% ABV. Bought at the short-lived wine shop across the street from my condo in 2009 for $22, probably on the strength of the appellation (we'd had some other good Red Mountain stuff at restaurants, I think) and in an attempt to support the store. Stashed it and forgot about it, with nice results: this is now a mature but still fresh Bordeaux-style blend with a pleasant mix of ripe red fruits and spice. Wood smoothly integrated, a slightly clipped finish, but overall a solid though unexceptional bottle that was a nice match with spiced lamb and beef meatballs with yogurt sauce, ratatouille, and homemade pita.

[Jenise]

Hedges Family Estate 2005 Red Mountain "Three Vineyards." A blend of 61% Merlot, 36% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 3% Cab Franc; 13.3% ABV. Bought at the short-lived wine shop across the street from my condo in 2009 for $22, probably on the strength of the appellation (we'd had some other good Red Mountain stuff at restaurants, I think) and in an attempt to support the store. Stashed it and forgot about it, with nice results: this is now a mature but still fresh Bordeaux-style blend with a pleasant mix of ripe red fruits and spice. Wood smoothly integrated, a slightly clipped finish, but overall a solid though unexceptional bottle that was a nice match with spiced lamb and beef meatballs with yogurt sauce, ratatouille, and homemade pita.

I'm quite pleased to read this. I dumped three bottles of '05 Syrah and one '04 Syrah, all WA, same producer (Long Shadows Sequel, supposedly made by John Duval of Grange fame), all $50-55 SRP at purchase, down the drain this weekend. And I was discussing that with someone who said why are you upset, you took too long to drink them. And my response was that a certain promise of longevity generally goes along with a certain price range--or at least it used to in California!--and that's missing too often in Washington wine.

And yet there's your Hedges. They're a good producer, btw, one of the originals. Their cabs have always had a bit of that green element that reads Bordeauxish, and they're still good values in the marketplace.

I have a 07 Andrew Will Sorella and a 07 Cadence Ciel du Cheval I was waiting to open at the 10 year mark. Hope I'm not being overly optimistic.

[Jenise]

I have a 07 Andrew Will Sorella and a 07 Cadence Ciel du Cheval I was waiting to open at the 10 year mark. Hope I'm not being overly optimistic.

Sorella? No problem. They're built right. I loved a '99 about two years ago. Whereas Cadence is a popular high-end brand that I don't have much personal experience with. In both cases, Jim, you have an overall soft, warm vintage--whether or not the tannins are there to keep them going will be the question.

Glad to provide inspiration! And you both repaid me by kindly not pointing out the now-fixed typo in my subject line... (how old is "twee"?)