One thing I know about California's Pacific Coast Highway is that it is, according to the USDOT, an "official National Scenic Byway" (as though there are unofficial NSBs lurking out there). Now that's perhaps not the best way to suck the fun out of one of the most scenic drives in the U.S., but I'd guess that it's up there.
But on to the wine. This 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon is my first foray into the Pacific Coast Highway (or PCH - I'm not sure which name Fresh & Easy is going with) line of middle-shelf domestics. It's markedly minty and menthol-y on the nose, with an undercurrent of sweet dark fruit. On the palate it's fairly plush and inviting, with juicy cherry, blackberry, and boysenberry notes - indeed, "juicy" is an apt single-word descriptor for this wine - balanced a good thread of acidity. The tannins are modest and short-lived.
In a few words: this is a wine in the company of the likes of California stalwarts Fetzer, Meridian, and perhaps Mondavi's "Private Selection" line. It's a relatively direct and easy-drinking red that makes for a nice every-other-day sort of bottle, and at ~$9 it's priced at about the level I'd expect for a Cab with grapes sourced from "California" in general rather than a more specific sub-appellation (e.g. Napa). A good choice, perhaps, to accompany a spring picnic just off of a National Scenic Byway near you.
Score
Drinkability: 8/10
Price: 3.5/5
Total value: 11.5/15
Showing posts with label Cabernet Sauvignon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cabernet Sauvignon. Show all posts
Wednesday
WineWrights 2009 Napa Cabernet Sauvignon - ~$11
I've long held that Fresh & Easy does better with Old World regional (e.g.the Reflexión Rioja Reserva)and New World varietal wines (e.g.McGuigan's Handmade Barossa Shiraz) while tending to struggle with domestic offerings. The recently-released WineWright series of premium-appellation California varietals may tip this balance. Given the price and grape sourcing (Napa, Monterrey) this line seems poised to compete with the likes of Trader Joe's in-house Napa reds (such as their Vintj Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon and Napa Meritage). If the WineWrights Cabernet Sauvignon, sourced from the Napa's Rutherford sub-appellation, is any indication, Fresh & Easy has progressed by leaps and bounds from its previous California entries, notably the underwhelming Clairville Russian River Cab.
The wine opens with dried raspberry, menthol, and something a bit cedary on the nose. A pleasant, subtle jamminess characterizes the flavor profile, which is distinguished by notes of dark ripe plum, tar, and spice. The astringent tannins loosen up after twenty minutes or so and give way to moderate oakiness and a richness that is still structured rather than unctuously velvety (this is a flaw I've noticed in TJ's otherwise tasty Napa Meritage).
As for the price ... even in the current context of depressed prices for Napa Valley grapes, you don't come across many Rutherford Cabs at ~$11; that this Cab actually tastes like it's from Rutherford is impressive. Quality wine at a reasonable price: I hope this is a harbinger of Fresh & Easy's future direction in California.
Score
Drinkability: 8.5/10
Price: 4.5/5
Total value: 13/15
The wine opens with dried raspberry, menthol, and something a bit cedary on the nose. A pleasant, subtle jamminess characterizes the flavor profile, which is distinguished by notes of dark ripe plum, tar, and spice. The astringent tannins loosen up after twenty minutes or so and give way to moderate oakiness and a richness that is still structured rather than unctuously velvety (this is a flaw I've noticed in TJ's otherwise tasty Napa Meritage).
As for the price ... even in the current context of depressed prices for Napa Valley grapes, you don't come across many Rutherford Cabs at ~$11; that this Cab actually tastes like it's from Rutherford is impressive. Quality wine at a reasonable price: I hope this is a harbinger of Fresh & Easy's future direction in California.
Score
Drinkability: 8.5/10
Price: 4.5/5
Total value: 13/15
Napa Family Vineyards 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon - ~$12
Given Fresh & Easy's mixed record with California reds, this Napa Cab is a pleasant surprise. A fragrant nose full of bright red cherry and tobacco notes is followed by nice balance of cherry, raspberry and a hint of mint. The lively acidity and good tannic grip offer some nice structure, and the whole package closes out with soft, subtle oak.
So I would put this one in the "win" column; Fresh & Easy's domestic offerings may yet catch up to the recurring quality of its European and New World imports
Score
Drinkability: 8.5/10
Price: 3.5/5
Total value: 12/15
So I would put this one in the "win" column; Fresh & Easy's domestic offerings may yet catch up to the recurring quality of its European and New World imports
Score
Drinkability: 8.5/10
Price: 3.5/5
Total value: 12/15
Tuesday
Long Country 2009 Cabernet Savignon - ~$8
This Fresh & Easy Cabernet Sauvignon hails from Chile's Colchagua Valley, typically a reliable area for earthy, robust Cabs.
The wine offers dusty notes of pencil lead and black fruit on the nose and follows through with cherry, raspberry, and dark chocolate on the palate. The tannins a fairly mild and short, and the focus here is on straightforward Cab fruit rather than oak finish. All in all, this is a solid effort at a fairly decent price.
Score
Drinkability: 8/10
Price: 4/5
Total value: 12/15
The wine offers dusty notes of pencil lead and black fruit on the nose and follows through with cherry, raspberry, and dark chocolate on the palate. The tannins a fairly mild and short, and the focus here is on straightforward Cab fruit rather than oak finish. All in all, this is a solid effort at a fairly decent price.
Score
Drinkability: 8/10
Price: 4/5
Total value: 12/15
Matuco 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon ~$9
I'm a fan of the Matuco Malbec, but not so much of this recent Cabernet Sauvignon bottling from Argentina.
The nose hinted a bit at classic Cab aromas of tar and dark berry. At first I thought it was closed and needed some time in the glass, but it never really opened up.
There were hints of plum and briary blackberry, but for the most part the fruit and backbone of a Cabernet Sauvignon - from Mendoza, Bordeaux, Napa, wherever - was MIA. It was hard to believe that this is a 14% ABV wine, given its overall reticence.
Score
Drinkability: 5/10
Price: 3/5
Total value: 9/15
The nose hinted a bit at classic Cab aromas of tar and dark berry. At first I thought it was closed and needed some time in the glass, but it never really opened up.
There were hints of plum and briary blackberry, but for the most part the fruit and backbone of a Cabernet Sauvignon - from Mendoza, Bordeaux, Napa, wherever - was MIA. It was hard to believe that this is a 14% ABV wine, given its overall reticence.
Score
Drinkability: 5/10
Price: 3/5
Total value: 9/15
Wednesday
Flat Rock 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon - ~$4
Rounding out Fresh & Easy's Flat Rock series is this very young (2009) California Cabernet Sauvignon.
The wine is a somewhat washed-out garnet in the glass and offers simple but pleasant aromas of cassis, cherry, and raspberry. In the mouth the cherry persists but overall the wine is thin (more cherry cough syrup than cherry fruit) and closes with somewhat out-of-whack tannic astringency. After an hour in the glass, some leathery earthiness emerges and the tannins become better integrated.
So zero-for-three, I suppose. Perhaps the the fundamental problem, or perhaps problems, with the Flat Rock series of wines is that it's just hard to make good Californian wine in this price range (unless, like Gallo or Mondavi, you have access to huge swathes of vineyards all over California). Secondly, going up just a few dollars (and knowing what to look for) can raise the quality level substantially. Sebastiani's Pepperwood Grove label, Columbia Crest's Two Vines series, Estancia's Pinnacles bottlings - to name a few - all typically deliver decent-to-good in the ~$7 - $10 range. And that's not counting imported wine, like, say Australian over-achievers Rosemount, Lindeman's, and Penfolds' Rawson's Retreat.
My local Fresh & Easy here in Arizona is offering a bunch of good wines at pretty good discounts. For example I can get the La Parra Loca Tempranillo/Shiraz blend for under ~$5 a bottle, and quite a bit less if I buy a half-case or more. So I'd skip the flat Flat Rock series (boy, they got the first part of the name right!) and stock your own value wine shelves with wines that have a little more to say.
Score
Drinkability: 3/10
Price: 5/5
Total value: 7/15
The wine is a somewhat washed-out garnet in the glass and offers simple but pleasant aromas of cassis, cherry, and raspberry. In the mouth the cherry persists but overall the wine is thin (more cherry cough syrup than cherry fruit) and closes with somewhat out-of-whack tannic astringency. After an hour in the glass, some leathery earthiness emerges and the tannins become better integrated.
So zero-for-three, I suppose. Perhaps the the fundamental problem, or perhaps problems, with the Flat Rock series of wines is that it's just hard to make good Californian wine in this price range (unless, like Gallo or Mondavi, you have access to huge swathes of vineyards all over California). Secondly, going up just a few dollars (and knowing what to look for) can raise the quality level substantially. Sebastiani's Pepperwood Grove label, Columbia Crest's Two Vines series, Estancia's Pinnacles bottlings - to name a few - all typically deliver decent-to-good in the ~$7 - $10 range. And that's not counting imported wine, like, say Australian over-achievers Rosemount, Lindeman's, and Penfolds' Rawson's Retreat.
My local Fresh & Easy here in Arizona is offering a bunch of good wines at pretty good discounts. For example I can get the La Parra Loca Tempranillo/Shiraz blend for under ~$5 a bottle, and quite a bit less if I buy a half-case or more. So I'd skip the flat Flat Rock series (boy, they got the first part of the name right!) and stock your own value wine shelves with wines that have a little more to say.
Score
Drinkability: 3/10
Price: 5/5
Total value: 7/15
Tuesday
Franciscan 2004 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon - ~$24
Franciscan is a well-established quality winery in Napa, California, and so of course it's wines are widely available outside of Fresh & Easy. Still, I thought it would be worthwhile to review one of the "top-shelf" F&E offerings.
The Napa Valley Cab is Franciscan's "entry-level" version, but it is hardly a light-weight red. The nose offers up tobacco, chocolate, and a touch of sweet oak. The palate is at once muscular and lush, defined by dark-roasted coffee and bitter-sweet chocolate laced through with plum and currant notes. The tannins on the finish are assertive but nicely fine-grained and well-integrated with the toasty oak and mocha on the longish finish.
Though at ~$24 it's pricier than most Fresh & Easy offerings (and you can likely get it for closer to or a bit under $20 at larger wine retailers) this is definitely something to consider if you're in the mood for a robust Cab for a special occasion.
Score
Drinkability: 9.5/10
Price: 3.5/5
Total value: 13/15
The Napa Valley Cab is Franciscan's "entry-level" version, but it is hardly a light-weight red. The nose offers up tobacco, chocolate, and a touch of sweet oak. The palate is at once muscular and lush, defined by dark-roasted coffee and bitter-sweet chocolate laced through with plum and currant notes. The tannins on the finish are assertive but nicely fine-grained and well-integrated with the toasty oak and mocha on the longish finish.
Though at ~$24 it's pricier than most Fresh & Easy offerings (and you can likely get it for closer to or a bit under $20 at larger wine retailers) this is definitely something to consider if you're in the mood for a robust Cab for a special occasion.
Score
Drinkability: 9.5/10
Price: 3.5/5
Total value: 13/15
Wednesday
Rockcliffe Family 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon - ~$11
I often find Cabernet Sauvignons from Washington state leaning toward the leaner side of the flavor profile, which can be a good thing in that it allows these Cabs to bring some of them more subtle varietal characteristics to the fore. Fresh & Easy's 2006 Rockcliffe Family Cabernet Sauvignon from the Columbia Valley doesn't quite manage to pull this trick off.
The nose is a pleasant mixture of chocolate and toasted cinnamon spice, but the palate is rather austere, offering some cherry and blackberry set against moderate, somewhat rough tannins.
Not a bad wine, but not, as the back label proclaims, "a classic Washington State Cabernet." For that I'd stick to something like Columbia Crest's ubiquitous and very affordable Grand Estates bottling.
Score
Drinkability: 6.5/10
Price: 4/5
Total value: 10.5/15
The nose is a pleasant mixture of chocolate and toasted cinnamon spice, but the palate is rather austere, offering some cherry and blackberry set against moderate, somewhat rough tannins.
Not a bad wine, but not, as the back label proclaims, "a classic Washington State Cabernet." For that I'd stick to something like Columbia Crest's ubiquitous and very affordable Grand Estates bottling.
Score
Drinkability: 6.5/10
Price: 4/5
Total value: 10.5/15
Sunday
The Harbor 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon - ~$6
The Harbor Cabernet Sauvignon is a wine sourced to Australia’s capacious South Eastern Australia region. A staggering amount of wine comes out SE Australia; this bottle's a good example (emphasis on the "good") of why. It's well-made in its modest fashion and eminently affordable.
The nose is slightly herbal and features big, jammy, dark red fruit. In the mouth you get sweet blackberry and raspberry fruit with a slight menthol bite and soft short tannins. It's tasty and engaging in what's become a trademark Australian style.
Simply put, this is a nice, straightforward Australian Cab in the company of a Lindeman’s Bin 45 Cab or a Rosemount Cab/Shiraz blend. A good wine to pair with the grill (spring’s just around the corner!)
Score
Drinkability: 7.5/10
Price: 4/5
Total value: 12.5/15
The nose is slightly herbal and features big, jammy, dark red fruit. In the mouth you get sweet blackberry and raspberry fruit with a slight menthol bite and soft short tannins. It's tasty and engaging in what's become a trademark Australian style.
Simply put, this is a nice, straightforward Australian Cab in the company of a Lindeman’s Bin 45 Cab or a Rosemount Cab/Shiraz blend. A good wine to pair with the grill (spring’s just around the corner!)
Score
Drinkability: 7.5/10
Price: 4/5
Total value: 12.5/15
Wednesday
Head-to-Head Cabernet Sauvignons - Hilltown Vineyards 2007 (~$7) and Rawnsley Estate 2007 (~$10)
The Hilltown Vineyards 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon comes from Monterey County. There’s not much more I can say about it, really. It’s an innocuous wine, one that is admittedly “red” but which doesn’t stand out in any way, either on the nose or the palate.
The Rawnsley Estate 2007 Cab, sourced to Australia’s Barossa region (but not the more prestigious Barossa Valley) is a different story altogether. The nose is a promising mix of juicy black currant and peppery spice. The juiciness follows through on the palate, and indeed this Cab drinks somewhat like a Zinfandel fruit bomb (without the mouth-searing alcohol). With bright acidity and a soft tannic finish, this Aussie Cab is the very definition of a fruity, easygoing red.
Worth the extra $? Need you even ask?
Hilltown Score
Drinkability: 5/10
Price: 4.5/5
Total value: 9.5/15
Rawnsley Score
Drinkability: 8/10
Price: 4/5
Total value: 12/15
The Rawnsley Estate 2007 Cab, sourced to Australia’s Barossa region (but not the more prestigious Barossa Valley) is a different story altogether. The nose is a promising mix of juicy black currant and peppery spice. The juiciness follows through on the palate, and indeed this Cab drinks somewhat like a Zinfandel fruit bomb (without the mouth-searing alcohol). With bright acidity and a soft tannic finish, this Aussie Cab is the very definition of a fruity, easygoing red.
Worth the extra $? Need you even ask?
Hilltown Score
Drinkability: 5/10
Price: 4.5/5
Total value: 9.5/15
Rawnsley Score
Drinkability: 8/10
Price: 4/5
Total value: 12/15
Clairville 2007 Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon - ~$14
I thought this Alexander Valley Cab might be the second of a sort of “matched set” with Fresh & Easy’s Small Wonders Chardonnay, given that they’re the first wines at Fresh & Easy from single appellations in Sonoma County, they arrived on the shelf at about the same time, and they're both currently on sale for ~$10.
At any rate, the appellation and the simultaneous arrival on the shelf would appear to be a coincidence. Where Small Wonders was very much an easy-to-like Sonoma Chard, Clairville is not likewise a typically soft, voluptuous, oaky Cab in the style of say, Geyser Peak’s or Sebastiani’s Sonoma County bottlings.
Rather, this is a wine with some guts and some tannin. It’s a bit on the rustic side, which is to say that it’s somewhat astringent and rough around the edges. If you prefer an old-fashioned Cab to the more polished contemporary California style, this might be a good choice. To my mind though, it’s kind of tight and closed, with the tannic finish swallowing up the fruit.
Score
Drinkability: 6.5/10
Price: 4/5
Total value: 10.5/15
At any rate, the appellation and the simultaneous arrival on the shelf would appear to be a coincidence. Where Small Wonders was very much an easy-to-like Sonoma Chard, Clairville is not likewise a typically soft, voluptuous, oaky Cab in the style of say, Geyser Peak’s or Sebastiani’s Sonoma County bottlings.
Rather, this is a wine with some guts and some tannin. It’s a bit on the rustic side, which is to say that it’s somewhat astringent and rough around the edges. If you prefer an old-fashioned Cab to the more polished contemporary California style, this might be a good choice. To my mind though, it’s kind of tight and closed, with the tannic finish swallowing up the fruit.
Score
Drinkability: 6.5/10
Price: 4/5
Total value: 10.5/15
Thursday
Lancewood Cabernet Sauvignon ~$9 (~7 on sale)
Here’s an instance of why reading labels is tricky but is likewise very important.
The grapes in this Cabernet Sauvignon are from the Barossa Zone rather than the more prestigious Barossa Valley appellation, which is a specific entity within the Barossa Zone. At least that’s my best guess. If the grapes (at least 85% percent of them, at any rate) came from the Barossa Valley, surely that would be indicated on the label. At any rate, you shouldn’t consider this wine in the ranks of Barossa Valley heavyweights such as Penfolds or Peter Lehmann, either geographically or stylistically.
Speaking of style, the Lancewood 2007 Cab is, in a word, underwhelming. In the glass the color is a surprisingly translucent purple, more like a Beaujolais than a Cab. The 12.5% ABV, lightweight for a Cab, is another indicator of something less than robust. The nose offers mild aromas of blackberry and raspberry jam and a bit of sweet cinnamon. The first impression in the mouth is of a moderately fruit-forward and sweet red. The flavor profile is fairly simple, featuring blackberry and hints of mocha and mint. The tannins are quite soft and the whole experience is over in a hurry.
That’s not to say that it’s a bad experience, just an insubstantial one. True, the wine is only around $9, but if Fresh & Easy wines demonstrate one thing, it’s that there’s more bang to be had for that many bucks.
Score
Drinkability: 5/10
Price: 3/5
Total value: 8/15
The grapes in this Cabernet Sauvignon are from the Barossa Zone rather than the more prestigious Barossa Valley appellation, which is a specific entity within the Barossa Zone. At least that’s my best guess. If the grapes (at least 85% percent of them, at any rate) came from the Barossa Valley, surely that would be indicated on the label. At any rate, you shouldn’t consider this wine in the ranks of Barossa Valley heavyweights such as Penfolds or Peter Lehmann, either geographically or stylistically.
Speaking of style, the Lancewood 2007 Cab is, in a word, underwhelming. In the glass the color is a surprisingly translucent purple, more like a Beaujolais than a Cab. The 12.5% ABV, lightweight for a Cab, is another indicator of something less than robust. The nose offers mild aromas of blackberry and raspberry jam and a bit of sweet cinnamon. The first impression in the mouth is of a moderately fruit-forward and sweet red. The flavor profile is fairly simple, featuring blackberry and hints of mocha and mint. The tannins are quite soft and the whole experience is over in a hurry.
That’s not to say that it’s a bad experience, just an insubstantial one. True, the wine is only around $9, but if Fresh & Easy wines demonstrate one thing, it’s that there’s more bang to be had for that many bucks.
Score
Drinkability: 5/10
Price: 3/5
Total value: 8/15
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