The Best Time for Wine!

Friday is my Wineday!  What better way is there to end the week and prepare for the weekend than spending time with my friends on Red Mountain?  I try to answer that question each Friday and can’t seem to come up with a better way!  While my day included great stops at Fidelitas, Col Solare, Bodega Palencia and Double Canyon, the focus of this blog entry is Hamilton Cellars.  It had been almost a year since I’d visited Stacie and Russ Hamilton’s fine establishment.  The grounds here are beautiful and the vineyard views are stunning.  Larry Stanley (the Tasting Room Manager) is always a fantastic host and a wealth of knowledge when it comes to Hamilton Wines.

The Tasting

I decided to enjoy the Reserve Tasting which focused on the 2013 Weinbau Cabernet Franc, the 2013 Red Mountain Malbec and the 2012 Champoux Malbec.  I was pleasantly surprised that bottle aging is embraced here.  One doesn’t often get the opportunity to taste 6, 7 and 8 year old wines at most tasting rooms.  If you are that fortunate, they’ve likely been libraried and will cost you a fortune if you decide to purchase them!  Not the case here.  While not on my tasting list, Larry allowed me to taste the 2011 Merlot and the 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon.  Both were really delicious!

The Experience

For those wine lovers who don’t know, Mr. Charlie Hoppes crafts the wines for Hamilton Cellars.  If you have a chance to visit, ask Larry about the Washington State versus Argentina Malbec competition sometime!  It was a great story and made me appreciate the beautiful Malbec offerings here even more!  My time at Hamilton’s was really enjoyable, and if you are looking for high quality wines, in particular Malbec or Cabernet Franc, you’ll love it here.  I ended up walking away with the 2013 Weinbau Cabernet Franc.  I just couldn’t pass that up for the price!  Friday really is my Wineday!  Here’s to a fantastic weekend….Cheers!!!