I like nothing better than to celebrate the end of the work week with a nice steak and a glass of Cabernet. Hey, I’m a simple guy. So I’m always on the prowl for some nice Cabs that won’t break the bank. There seems to be plenty of decent Bordeaux available from the 2009 vintage but most of the less expensive wines are Merlot based. These are some inexpensive wines I’ve had over the past couple of weekends in search of the elusive QPR Cabernet.
2009 Estancia Cabernet Sauvignon – Keyes Canyon Ranch: I paid $9 for this. This is a fairly simple wine. There was sufficient bouquet and correct Cabernet flavors but this was fairly light and one dimensional. I thought it was good for $9 but I want something more. 84 pts.
2009 Foxglove Cabernet Sauvignon – Paso Robles: I paid $13 for this. This wine is a little tight right now. With a couple of hours of air you get some nice Cabernet fruit but zero complexity. A little oak might have helped this. Still, it holds up well in the middle and is medium weight. Very clean and balanced. A good wine but I’m still looking for a little more. 87 pts.
2009 Waterbrook Cabernet Sauvignon – Columbia Valley: I paid $13 for this. This is moving in the right direction. It’s not as fat as the Foxglove but there’s some oak and tannin there to give this some bite and a sense of complexity. Nice black currant nose and flavors. For the $$ I think this is the best of the uber-cheap Cabs I’ve had recently. Very hard to beat at this price. 88 pts.
2009 Franciscan Estate Cabernet Sauvignon – Napa Valley: I paid $19 for this. I liked this wine a lot, my wife less so. I opened a bottle of the ’99 recently which was really singing so I grabbed this to see how the estate was doing a decade later. There was some funk on the nose and the palate but it wasn’t brett and I liked it. This was fairly deep and rich for a wine at this price point. Quite fat now but enough acidity to keep it lively. There’s not enough tannin here to go another 10 years but this is delicious now. I’ll go back for more while it’s still on sale. 90 pts.
2008 Mount Veeder Winery Cabernet Sauvignon – Napa Valley: I paid $28 for this, it’s usually $33 locally. This wine is very clean with bracing acidity. This took some time to open up but when it did, it was correct but unexciting. Others liked this more than I did. I didn’t feel this had enough heft to justify the price point. A good wine that needs food at this point. It may open up in time but the price point locally is too high for this. 88 pts.