1995 Seven Hills Winery Merlot Klipsun Vineyard

Full Pull

• By Paul Zitarelli
  Full Pull Library, 5/10/2017

  (Seven Hills Winery Merlot Klipsun Vineyard) Hello friends. I think many of us were delighted to learn that Casey and Vicky McClellan had successfully sold Seven Hills Winery early in 2016. It’s nice to see hard work pay off, especially for good folks like the McClellans. But I was even more delighted a year later when I learned that the robust Seven Hills library was not part of the sale. Today we have a real treat: a pair of winery-aged parcels showing the beauty and longevity of well-made, balanced Washington Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. We’ve bottled two Klipsun Merlots under our Full Pull & Friends label (one is still available; we’ll include it below), and in both instances, I’ve talked about how old ‘90s bottlings of Klipsun Merlot from Seven Hills and Andrew Will were hugely influential in my thinking about the ageing curve of Washington Merlot. This vineyard (which was also purchased recently, by Terlato), in the heart of Red Mountain, makes Merlot that seems immortal. Tightly wound in its youth, presenting brooding exotic fruit surrounded by walls of robust tannin, it unfurls with time into something truly magnificent. One fun historical note here: the bottle itself does not say Red Mountain. That's because it would be another six years (April 2001) before Red Mountain AVA was established. By 1995, Merlot at Klipsun was already into its 12th leaf, so the vines were well-established. Another historical note: the listed alcohol, which is 12.5% here. It is rare indeed to see a Washington red – let alone a Red Mountain red – with 12.5% listed alc these days. Whether that’s attributable to a warming climate or stylistic changes in winemaking is up for debate. What I will say is that this low-alc/high-acid profile – which may well have made for a fairly unapproachable wine in its youth – is perfect for ageing. This presents a clearly mature nose: dried black and purple fruit, spice cake, leather, earth, mint. It offers the kind of complexity that is only possible with extended bottle age. The palate is downright gorgeous, with everything you could want from mature Merlot: a mix of primary fruit and tertiary tones, a sense of exotic spiciness that Klipsun seems to bring to Merlot, and above all else, a fully integrated palate, with calmed-down acid, softened-up tannins, and a precise sense of balance. What a thrilling experience it is, contemplating this wine.