Wednesday, June 13, 2007

WBW 34: Washington Cabernets
posted by snekse

WBW 34: Washington Cabs
2002 Hurricane Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon

2002 Hurricane Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon

It's time for another Wine Blogging Wednesday . It's been a couple of months since I've participated in a WBW event, but with this month's theme, Washington Cabs , how could I resist. Our host for this month is Through The Walla Walla Grape Vine™ .

I really wanted to like this wine more because I thought it had great potential when I bought it. Granted I drank it about 5 years before I was expecting to. When I first tried this upon release, it had lots of acid and massive tannins, so I thought it would be an ideal bottle to lay down. There was a good amount of sediment adhered to the bottle and I needed a Washington Cab to drink for WBW #34. So I opened it.

Now on with the wine!

2002 Hurricane Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon
750ml ~ $21.99 (wineaccess.com)

Legs of the Hurricane Ridge Cabernet

Vintage: 2002
Type: Red
Producer: Hurricane Ridge
Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon
Designation: n/a
Vineyard: n/a
Country: USA
Region: Washington
SubRegion: n/a
Appellation: Washington

Tasting Notes
Currently it still has lots of acid and tannin, though the acid seems to be more prevalent than the tannin. You get a brief attack of tannin up front, but the middle and finish are dominated by the acid. Definitely need food with this. Luckily I had an 8oz. ribeye steak to stand up to it. Tried straight out of the bottle, through a Vinturi speed decanter and a regular decanter. None of them produced the results I was hoping for. It was difficult to find the fruit in this wine. As such, my notes are a little vague.

Gorgeous blackberry juice color. Very oaked with a charred vanilla bouquet. Darker type nose of chocolate, dusty leather with a touch of barn. Taste profiles of raisin-y fruit, blackberry, black cherry.

Rating: 85

I'm still pretty new to aging wine, so I'm not sure if this was aged too long, not long enough, if it was going through a "dumb" phase or what. Anyone have any insights?

***UPDATE***
If you'd like to see then entire WBW round-up, you can find it on the Through The Walla Walla Grape Vine ™ website.

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Labels: REVIEW, wbw, WINE, WINE REVIEW

2 Comments:

You may have had a bottle that was improperly stored. Check the cork for seepage. If the bottle gets too hot, the seal breaks and "cooks" your wine, which would explain the high acid and low fruit. It could also be a bottle with a volitile acid problem or just a bad bottle variation. Do you have another bottle to compare it with ?

By foieman, at Friday, June 15, 2007 12:13:00 PM
I thought about mentioning this in the post, but decided not to.

The bottle was stored on its side in my unfinished basement which never gets much above 60 degrees. There was no evidence of seepage on the cork.

However, the bottle was purchased at The Tasting Room here in Omaha which stores their bottles up right at room temperature. I bought this bottle at least 6 months after release, so it could have been stored in that position for up to 6 months depending on the turn over.

Unfortunately I do not have another bottle to compare it to.

By snekse, at Friday, June 15, 2007 12:39:00 PM