2007 NxNW Cabernet Sauvignon

April 1st usually a day to trick your friends and neighbors playing mindless practicle jokes on each other. I chose the day to participate in a twitter taste on wine blends (trust me I was in full glory during the day. Do you know how much fun one can have with an electronic fart machine). The wine I chose was a sample sent to me by the fine folks at North By Northwest Winery in Walla Walla Washington.

North By Northwest wine is created from the grape growing regions of the Columbia River Basin in Washington and Oregon. Each vineyard with a unique name (Pepper Bridge, Seven Hills, Elephant Mountain, Wallula) and story describing the area can be found on their site http://www.nxnwwine.com/vineyards/. Even on the bottle the folks identify what percent of grapes come from each vineyard, the day the grapes were harvested, the blend percentage making up the wine and the aging in oak barrels. Cool label.
I opened the wine about 35 minutes before I was ready to drink just assuming the wine needed to breathe. Made up of 84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, 3% Petit Verdot, I found this wine very smooth and each taste I fell more in love wanting the bottle to be endless. Dark cherry hit my nose first and as I continued on spice, along with oak were present. Deep red/maroon color this wine looks rich.

While not overpowering an excellent tasting dark cherry flavor right at the beginning. Hint of plum but right after a quick ( I had to verify and I was wrong) what I will describe as a short creamy caramel ( I thought it was butterscotch) sensation. Spice and oak round out the flavors towards the end. Full flavored yet very smooth for a Cabernet. I am extremely impressed with this wine. I hope this is one of the wines the Wine Bloggers Conference participants http://winebloggersconference.org/america/ have a chance to taste and enjoy as well.

Cheers
Dan