Sunday, February 1st, 2009
91 / A
Tasted by Mike Supple - 16 Oct 2008
Dark ruby core with a lighter pink rim. Sweet blackberry and cherry aromas up front are surrounded by smoke, soy sauce, dried anise and a hint of barbeque ribs. Medium bodied in the mouth with ripe fruit flavors of blueberry, black cherry and raspberry. The tannins are fairly small and ripe, making this an approachable wine that is ready to drink (but with enough oomph to last another 2 - 4 years). Nice lingering finish with a touch of Good & Plenty candy licorice.
Argentina strikes again by bringing one of the best values to the wine world. A blend of 34% Cabernet Sauvignon (for red fruit and structure), 33% Malbec (for spice and acidity) and 33% Syrah (for rich, dark flavors and body). All this fruit and power needs balance to keep the wine from going over the top, and the acid in the Malbec does the trick. We pulled this wine out on set recently while shooting some Supple Wine videos and not a single person could resist. Two cases of this stuff disappeared in a heartbeat!
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Tags: 2005, and, anise, Argentina, barbeque, black, blackberry, blueberry, Bodegas, cabernet, candy, cherry, good, Malbec, Mendoza, pasodoble, pink, plenty, poesia, raspberry, red, red wine, ribs, ruby, sauce, sauvignon, smoke, soy, Syrah, wine
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Saturday, January 31st, 2009
89 / B+
Tasted by Mike Supple - 24 Sep 2008
Dark ruby (almost black) core with a brighter ruby rim. Lots of leather, earth and charred oak aromas over sweet cherry and cassis, with a hint of soy sauce. Smooth, easy entry onto the palate. Medium body and well balanced acidity. Ripe red cherry and blackberry fruits are backed by flavors of coffee, vanilla and a touch of earth. Cherries and fresh cream linger on the finish. Very fine grained tannins make this pleasant to drink now, but will also allow the wine to age for another 3 - 5 years.
This is a great value for Cabernet Sauvignon coming from Sonoma - and it has fortunately stayed largely out of the spotlight of the major critics…until now. Cab of this quality can easily run you up $40 or more, so finding this wine at half that price is a steal. There is plenty of body and fruit to satisfy all you monster Cab fans, yet the wine remains balanced and elegant enough to go very well with a meal. Just enough oak in the winemaking adds great complexity of flavors (coffee, soy sauce) that complement the fruit in the wine. This is a great bottle to pull if you are meeting your date’s parents for the first time. Everyone respects a good Cab, and this one clearly fits the bill.
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Tags: 2005, blackberry, cabernet, california, cassis, char, cherry, Coast, coffee, cream, earth, estate, kunde, leather, North, oak, red, red wine, ruby, sauce, sauvignon, sonoma, soy, sweet, vanilla, wine
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