To Drink: $5 Wine Vol. 4 Cabernet Sauvignon Comparison Edition

the contenders.

This was a task that was trickier than I originally imagined.

I wanted to try one grape from two different regions, each at the $5 price point. I thought Syrah from somewhere and shiraz from Australia would be fun since I've not done any Aussie wines and I love that the grape is the same but spelled differently. Didn't work out.

After frantically going from one section to the other (TJs is set up with a mix of some grape varietal sections and regional sections, making this all the more confusing) I finally found Cabernet Sauvignon from California and Argentina. I was a little bit sad because the $5 Argentine Cab Sauv (as we insiders say) was the same vineyard as the malbec we tried, but maybe that's not so bad in hindsight.

this is a very official tasting. and thank goodness one of the wines had a color in its name. made it much easier on my pea-sized brain. m for michael & w for whitney. those are our names!

ANYWAY. I bought two bottles since it was both Valentine's Day & a long weekend, so I knew we'd be game to celebrate. Also, it was our traditional Hamentine's Day (more on that later). And wine + ham = romance, duh.

To begin, cabernet sauvignon is the baby grape birthed from cabernet franc and sauvignon blanc. I didn't know that! But, it sure does make sense. It is also very popular throughout the world with many different characteristics depending where it was born. Jancis is telling me that the grape is better when its matured and can stay tasty for many years. We've got 2013 vintages on our hands, so let's just keep that in mind.

CabSauv and California, apparently, make for a dynamic duo. The grapes are often ripened quite a lot before being pressed into the juice. The super-ripe quality of the California CabSauv will likely be prolific for a long time. (Virginia is also a decent breeding ground for CabSauv-- I like going to VA vineyards, I'll report back!) For my own knowledge, CS (I'm getting lazier by the second) grown in the bourdeaux style in California are called Meritage. Let's see if we can remember that.

South American CS can be enjoyed when they are younger, Jancis was talking about the Chilean wines, but maybe that can be applied to Argentina. She says Chilean CS can even be like chocolate milk. She says Argentine CS can be velvety and explosive. An explosion of velvet reminds me of crushed velvet. 

Jancis goes on about the grape with words like this: powerful, blackcurrants, cedar, cigar boxes, deep purple.

Now, one thing that might have been interesting had my options been greater would be to do an old world versus new world comparison. Basically, the new world are copy cats of the old world who maybe have taken more risks or used technology in different ways (this is based on a little bit of reading, I assess this with medium confidence). That will be a different comparison for a different day, for now we are comparing New World CS.

The Wine Folly is telling me to expect new world CS to be black cherry, licorice, black pepper with an overall vanilla quality.

Also, China has started growing CS in the Gobi Desert! That's weird! And unexpected.

i used glass safe markers to label everything. this would be a great party technique. reusable, personalized glasses so you don't get mouth diseases from your palz! also, buy that candle. it's amazing.

So, how was the wine?

First, we tried the 2013 Green Fin Organic CS from California. The label told us it would have a red hue with black cherry and plum flavors. You guys! It's definitely red. At first, he smelled meaty beef smells, which I didn't experience. I was getting more of a raspberry scent. We determined it was a soft flavor and initially really liked it. But it didn't have that BIG juicy flavor we would want to have, probably.

Then, we stuck our noses in the 2013 La Finca CS from Mendoza and were like "WHOA! This smells SO different!" It was smoother and nicer. It was not as alcoholy. The label told us red berry, slightly oaky, with sweet pepper. He got a cherry flavor and all I could taste was chocolate.

oskar = wino.

As we switched back and forth and as time went on, it was more and more clear that the Green Fin was too sweet. It had an almost saccharine vanilla fake cookie flavor to it. While La Finca just got better and better! It, like, had a lot of nice & different & complex flavors. I really liked it! Like, I liked it like I've liked real (good, non-$5) wine.

Final thoughts, Green Fin:

Was it true to its grape? I mean, they said vanilla. So, there's that.
Would I drink it again? Nope.
Would I bring it to a party? If I thought the hosts were idiots who like sweet, stupid wine. Big dumb idiot wine drinkers.
Anything to remember? Don't buy that one!

Whitney's Wine Score (1-42): 10

choco covered strawberries to go with the winning chocolately finca CS.

Final thoughts, La Finca:

Was it true to its grape? Chilean CS is reminiscent of chocolate milk, and this had a deep chocolate flavor to it. And I could get behind a crushed velvet sort of texture.
Would I drink it again? Hellzya.
Would I bring it to a party? Sure thing. I might even bring it to one this weekend.
Anything to remember? La Finca is better at CS than Malbec.

Whitney's Wine Score (1-42): 36
The Meaning of the Points:
1-10: Hellllllllllllllll no.
11-19: I mean, no thank you. But. Eh.
20-27: Fine. That was fine. Fair enough.
28-34: Sure. Ya. I can drink that again. Soonish, even.
35-40: Oh! How delightful. Yes, please, again!
40-42: Amazeballs. Completely lovely. Excellent. Can I have another bottle, now?