2009 Dancing Hares "Mad Hatter" Napa Valley Bordeaux Blend
SKU #1088419
91 points
Wine Enthusiast
This is a thick, young blend that’s based on Merlot. It’s brooding in tannins, offering deep, impressive layers of blackberry purée, dark chocolate and bacon. This is really delicious now with big, rich fare, like short ribs, and it should be good over the next six years.
(8/2012)
91 points
Wine Spectator
Offers a mix of melted black licorice, currant, dark berry, spice and savory herb notes that are firm, structured and rich without being weighty. Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Drink now through 2021.
(6/2012)
90 points
Connoisseurs Guide
This deep and very generously filled offering leads with rich, sweetly oaked aromas of cherries, cassis, vanilla and crème caramel, and its like-minded flavors do not miss a step. Its ample tannins provided a very solid structural frame, and it is never less than wholly filled from beginning to end. Its richness might compel drinking now, but it has a bit of back-end coarseness to lose, and the smart money says to set it aside for another five years.
(3/2013)
90 points
Vinous
The 2009 Mad Hatter is laced dark red/black fruit, licorice, tar and smoke. In 2009, Mad Hatter is mostly Merlot, and it shows in the wine's supple, resonant personality. Full-bodied and voluptuous through to the finish, the 2009 has a lot to offer over the next handful of years. Dancing Hares is a small five acre property that sits at the base of Howell Mountain. The upper portion of the site, which features a mixture of decomposed volcanic and red Aiken soils, is planted to Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot, while the lower parts of the site, where the soils are rich in clay and loam, is better suited to Cabernet Franc and Merlot. (AG)
(11/2013)
K&L Notes
The "Mad Hatter" is a Bordeaux-style blend crafted by noted winemaker Andy Erickson (Screaming Eagle, Harlan Estate, Ovid, Newton Vineyard, and Spottswoode, to name a few) with consulting winemaker Michel Rolland. The 2009 vintage is 27% Cabernet Sauvignon, 59% Merlot, 7% Petit Verdot, and 7% Cabernet Franc, and was aged for 20 months in predominantly new French oak barrels.
