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Cabernet Sauvignon Wine Tasting Notes
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Menage a Trois Red California, Zinfandel, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon $9 Score: 90.0 This full-bodied red blend serves up rich blueberry jam fruit with allspice overtones and soft tannins. A fruit bomb, but a well balanced fruit bomb. |
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2005 Kenwood Jack London Vineyard, Sonoma Valley, Cabernet Sauvignon: $35 Score: 89.0 Fans of full-flavored Amarone will also love this super ripe, extracted Cabernet, with its concentrated blackberry and chocolate flavors backed by oaky nuances, full body and soft tannins. The fruit morphs into raspberry as the finish lingers on the palate. My best guess, after several decades of ageing such wines, is that the fruit will hold as the background flavors evolve into mushroom and soy with about 15 years in the bottle. |
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2005 Kenwood Sonoma County, Cabernet Sauvignon: $18 Score: 87.0 Here's proof that you can find a superior Cabernet at a reasonable price and a reasonable alcohol. Kenwood's Sonoma County Cabernet shows blueberry, plum and licorice, as well as a faint herbal (I'd say oregano) character that emphatically states "Cabernet." It has soft tannins, yet firm structure, which makes it easy to drink now, yet it's capable of developing for another 5 to 7 years or more. |
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2006 Round Hill California Cabernet Sauvignon: $9 Score: 84.0 A medium-light bodied wine with aromas and flavors of cherry and raspberry with a hint of black currant. It's all about the fruit, pure and simple. Showing velvety tannins and elegant structure, this is an easy quaffer you can enjoy without much thought to your wallet. P.S. -- only 13% alcohol |
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2003 Martin Ray Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon: $ Score: 91.0 This will remind you of a Rutherford cab -- cherry and cassis, a light mineral background, supple tannin, subtle oak tones. It's a beautiful expression of variety and place. |
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2004 Valley of the Moon, Sonoma County, Cabernet Sauvignon: $20 Score: 87.0 A big, vibrant wine displaying dark flavors -- tar, bittersweet chocolate, licorice, black currant and dark roasted coffee beans. Full-bodied, with firm structure and soft tannins this wine is designed for current drinking, but should last a decade or more. Acceptable balance at the outer edge of our preferred alcohol limit of 14.5%. |
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2005 Gallo Family Vineyards Sonoma Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon $15 Score: 91.0 I'm very impressed with Gallo's bargain priced Sonoma Reserve Cabernet, which serves up rich black currant and blackberry fruit flavors, backed by subtle toast and vanilla from oak ageing. It has great balance and an extraordinarily long finish. |
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2004 Ironstone Vineyards California Cabernet Sauvignon $10 Score: 92.0 A spicy, smokey Cabernet Sauvignon with depth and persistence, a layer of milk chocolate, blackberry and a hint of black currant. Medium bodied with light tannin and fine balance. A very fine value. |
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2003 Ironstone Vineyards Calaveras County Meritage [78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc] Reserve $35 Score: 86.0 Here Ironstone reaches for the moon and falls a bit short, but we applaud the effort. Their Reserve Meritage is a soft, enveloping fruit bomb redolent of blackberries, with nutmeg undertones. The soft tannins stay in the background and will recede further over the next 3 to 5 years. Enjoyable as it is, I doubt it will develop much complexity, though it's a wine that should work well at the dinner table as a foil for such dishes as beef or lasagna. Only 500 6-bottle cases produced. |
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2004, Sebastiani Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon $30 Score: 88.0 A Bordeaux-style blend, you'll still find plenty of Alexander Valley Cabernet character here: dark chocolate and black berries, with licorice and oak accents. The tannin is soft but substantial, adding to the body. Designed for extended aging, don't open before 2011. |
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2003 Brassfield Estate Winery Monte Sereno Vineyard, High Valley, (Lake County) Cabernet Sauvignon $40 Score: 90.0 Judging from Brassfield's first Cabernet Sauvignon, they're aiming high. Everything about this wine exudes a serious commitment to produce world-class wine. The first impression is of concentrated blackberry and black currant fruit, but more impressive are the subtle notes one finds underneath the fruit: black olives, intense minerality, a hint of sage and an elusive spicyness. The tannin adds to the wine's structure without adding bitterness. My only complaint is the rather warm finish from the 14.8% alcohol, but it's a small complaint given the overall quality of the wine. Enjoy now with roast beef, or age for another decade or more. This is an impressive debut. Only 948 six-packs produced. |
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2001 Chateau Potelle VGS Mount Veeder Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon $60 Score: 91.0 There is a sense of great finesse, of a certain intensity from the nose through the finish. The flavors are a balance of oak and fruit, with a core of blackberry, raspberry fruit, and back notes of vanilla and licorice. The tannin is evident but not obtrusive. Special now and likely to evolve and improve over the next decade. Just 793 cases produced. |
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