2007 Dancing Hares Red

The 2007 Dancing Hares (39% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37% Merlot, 21% Cabernet Franc and the rest Petit Verdot, aged 21 months in mostly new French oak) exhibits a sweet nose of white chocolate, forest floor, blueberry, bay leaf, and cassis. Terrific fruit intensity, an opulent, full-bodied mouthfeel, with the considerable exuberance that is so much a part of this vintage’s personality, and a long, lush finish make for a super wine to drink over the next 15 or more years. It’s good to retaste these wines from a tiny 5-acre vineyard planted in volcanic rock in the famous red aiken soils found on Howell Mountain. This is another winery that boasts Andy Erickson as the winemaker and David Abreu as the consulting viticulturalist. The 2007 performed better at this tasting, but the 2008 was dramatically better than the barrel sample I tasted last year. This is another example of a wine with a significant percentage of Cabernet Franc, improving considerably with time in bottle. This isn’t a surprise when I think of my history rating Cheval Blanc from St.-Emilion as another example of this. Tel. (707) 967-8296