Full Disclosure: These wines were provided as a free sample from the producer. Seven Hills Winery has been a long-standing favorite of mine in the Walla Walla Valley. Year in and year out, Casey McClellan (founder/winemaker) has consistently produced well-balanced, low-alcohol wines that one can enjoy with a meal without it overpowering everything. And I enjoyed visiting their tasting room a few years back, which offered a true "beyond the bottle" experience (see review here). So I was excited when some PR folks representing Seven Hills Winery reached out to see if I was interested in trying a few samples....

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Posted by Thad W. at 07:25 PM | Permalink

What I Drank With Dinner (WIDWD) During consecutive nights recently, we enjoyed two terrific Washington syrahs with our dinner. The first night's wine was a Columbia Valley syrah, which you can read more about in my previous post. On the second night, we opened a Seven Hills 2005 Syrah comprised of fruit from the Walla Walla Valley, a bottle I purchased for $28 during a visit to their tasting room last summer. Seven Hills describes this wine as "truly a valley-wide blend, with grapes from cobble, hillside and terrace microclimates: Seven Hills, Morrison, Dwelley and Double River Ranch vineyards."...

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Posted by Thad W. at 08:32 PM | Permalink

When it comes to running a tasting room, there are wineries that get what it means to provide a truly connected experience. And then there are those that clearly don't. The folks at Seven Hills Winery get it, for their tasting room is one that provides strong connections to the people and places behind their wines. Seven Hills Winery is located in the historic Whitehouse-Crawford building in downtown Walla Walla. Their spacious tasting room offers a wide bar with views into the winery's barrel room. The restored wood plank floors, high ceilings, exposed beams, and brick walls provide a...

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Posted by Thad W. at 07:19 PM | Permalink

What I Drank With Dinner (WIDWD) One of the nice things about living in the Pacific Northwest is having access to a wide assortment of local wines. This access enables us to try new Washington and Oregon wines on a regular basis at our dinner table. It's a rare occasion when we repeat a bottle, for there are just too many new producers or new releases in our region to sample. However, there are dinners when a decent everyday wine is worth repeating. Such is the case with the Seven Hills 2006 Pinot Gris. At $15 retail, it is...

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Posted by Thad W. at 08:11 PM | Permalink

What I Drank With Dinner (WIDWD) I am becoming a big fan of Walla Walla Valley fruit. Red or white, I enjoy the flavors, the acidity, and many times the lower alcohol in wines sourced from this valley. I have become especially fond of cabernet sauvignon from Walla Walla Valley, with Pepper Bridge and Amavi being two of my favorite Washington cabs. While shopping at Esquin Wine Merchants a few weeks back, I picked up a bottle of Seven Hills 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Seven Hills Vineyard for $31.95. Last Saturday night, we grilled a couple of fillets along with...

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Posted by Thad W. at 03:55 PM | Permalink