On Thursday night we dined with friends at Anthony's Hearthfire, a restaurant that's part of a chain of Washington restaurants that bucks most pre-conceived notions about chain restaurants. It's not five star dining, but what they do they do quite well. Bob and I each ordered a glass of the 2007 Lone Canary (Washington) Sauvignon Blanc to enjoy while our friends had cocktails. I found it typical of most Washington state SB's--melony with a touch of residual sugar. Not one to ponder but quite refreshing when served very cold.
It was left to me to choose the dinner wine (all four of us ordered the excellent rotisserie chicken), so I chose the 2006 Nelms Road Merlot, Columbia Valley, Washington at $42. Our friends commented that they never buy or order merlot, always passing it up for pinot, syrah or cabernet, so they were interested to find out why I did. The wine sold itself: rich, warm, and mouth-filling, it has black cherry and plum flavors with good minerality and fine mocha finish. Big bodied but not over the top, with the kind of balance that's both elegant and supple. All in all, pretty smart for an $18-$20 (retail) bottle. Nelms Road is the second label of Washington's well-known Woodward Canyon.
At our friend's home after dinner, we shared a bottle of a pinot Anne recently acquired for about $10/bottle, the 2006 Cooper's Hill from Hawkes Bay, New Zealand. The wine was quite different from what I expected, as most Hawkes Bay wines I've had have been pretty ripe. Not this one! Light-bodied, mild cherry-raspberry flavors with the green streak of underripe fruit. Quite drinkable, but more a food wine than a cocktail wine, and no gem here even at that low price.
Anne also opened a bottle of the just-released 2007 Ded Reckoning Cabernet Sauvignon for us to try. Compass Wines in Anacortes sells this wine exclusively, and per their flyers they rather famously sell out of it in days so I've been curious to taste it. After one sip I asked about the alcohol percentage, guessing 15.5. Close: 15.3%. It's recogizably cabernet, but at this point it's mostly about the oak, rough tannins and that hot, drying finish. Egads.