Heavy brick. An opening nose like quenching varnish-fire with mud, blowing off to mere shag-carpet static and crisper drawer.
Prune & acid in the mouth, with cloying tannins. A cab/merlot which can’t last a decade? Here’s your sign.
2009 HEDGES FAMILY ESTATE “CMS” cab/ME/SY 39/45/16 Columbia Valley Washington 13.5
Stephen McConnell 
Too bad. I love their higher end wines — restrained, very good-friendly — and the owners are wonderful peeps.
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No. NOT surprising at all. The author first misidentifies the wine as a Cabernet-Merlot (“A cab/merlot which can’t last a decade?”), correctly mentioning the Syrah component later (the actual blend being 39% Cab, 45% Merlot, and 16% Syrah). Secondly, this is Hedges’ “entry level” wine (current WSRP $14). It’s made for drinking in the short term…now and over the next couple of years, nothing more. (I was the first to rep Hedges Wines in California, when the wines were “Cab-Merlot” and “Fumé-Chardonnay” — blends that were easy drinking and very affordable, and very popular as BTG pours and floor stacks for everyday drinking. As time went on, Hedges introduced Red Mountain Reserve (now just Red Mountain), Three Vineyards, and many more.
This 2009 should have been consumed by 2012-2013, IMHO.
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