Purple in color, ruby at the rim, mostly opaque and bright. The nose has black cherries, bel peppers, spice and some pepper. Medium bodied. Light tannins. On the palate, this has some black cherry fruit with green bell peppers. One dimensional. Clipped finish. This would be a fine wine with meatloaf or a burger. Drink over the next few years.
This is a nice, moderately priced California Cabernet. Deep garnet in color, mostly opaque and bright. The nose has cassis, bell peppers, cherries and some spice. Medium bodied with light tannins. On the palate black cherry fruit with a touch of green bell pepper. Moderate finish. This drinks easily and although good on its own, is better with some food. Chili is a nice match. Drink over the next three to five years.
This is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon made with organic grapes in Mendocino, California. Purple in color, mostly opaque and bright. The nose is classic with cassis, dust and graphite. Firm tannins. Full bodied. Good acidity. If you are looking for a big fruit bomb California Cab, this is not it. It is ripe with no green notes, but it is more of a classic, food friendly style. Cassis with slight graphite notes with an underlying earthiness. Nice finish. This drinks well on its own but is better with food. Of course a steak, but this would work really nicely with Roasted Root vegetables.
This is the new venture from Cameron Hughes. He buys lots of juice that wineries can't or don't want to try to sell, and repackages the juice and sells at a steep discount. One can guess where the grapes are from, but it is never announced. The wines are sold thru a daily e-mail but they recently added a store on their site for unsold wines. I am skeptical about buying wine that is advertised as "really being X" or "declassified X" but these wines are not expensive and I thought I would give it a go. This is one of their higher priced wines at about $21 delivered. Overall, I am happy
If you look around, this varies in price from $35 to $70 typically. At the former, that is a tremendous value in California Cab. Purple in color, mostly opaque and bright. The nose has spice, cassis, black cherries, slight chocolate and char. Full bodied. Medium tannins. On the palate, ripe cassis (not over ripe) with some underlying char. Long finish. Very tasty on its own and makes a great wine with burgers or meatloaf (or a steak). Drink over the next ten years.
