September is national wine month in California, and on September 1 we were fortunate enough to celebrate the international solute to cabernet wine. Across the United States and in France people enjoyed a glass of cabernet and used social media to talk about it.
Here in the Central Valley I was lucky enough to try three different cabernets, and even had some fun with it. I was unaware of which wine company I was enjoying or even how much the bottle of wine cost. After trying each wine in this blind taste test I wrote down my tasting notes and how much I would value the wine at. Needless to say not one of my prices matched the actual price. Here are my tasting notes:
Bottle 1:
Smell: Dark fruit, Cherry
1st Taste: Acidic
2nd Taste: Spicy, Cherry
After Taste: Tangy
Personal notes: This was my least favorite of the three wines. I thought there wasn’t enough body to the wine or a full flavor.
My price: $5.75
Bottle 2:
Smell: Sweet Cherry, Chocolate
1st taste: Cherry, Spicy
2nd taste: Bold spice, darker cherry, Chocolate
After taste: Lingering chocolate flavor and some spice
Personal notes: This was my middle wine. It was better then the first but not as good as the last. More body and flavor to this wine. I liked the spicy note to it.
My price: $8.50
Bottle 3:
Smell: Fruity, Chocolate
1st taste: Sage, chocolate
2nd taste: Deep cherry, spice, and fruity notes
After taste: Lingering spice, chocolate, and some fruit taste
Personal notes: This was by far my favorite wine of the three. It had the most flavor and body to it. If I were to cook with a cabernet I would choose this one. I liked the earthy spice to this wine; it added an extra dimension to the flavor.
My price: $10
After trying the three wines here is what that actually were and how much they cost:
Bottle 1: Bonterra (2009) $11.99
Bottle 2: Velvet Moon (2009) $4.99
Bottle 3: Cellar No 8 (2008) $8.99
A special thank you goes out to the amazing team I work for. They were the ones who gave this wine to me as a birthday gift to try for Cabernet Day.
We hope that you enjoyed #CabernetDay2011 and were able to talk about it through social media. If you have any stories please share them with us.
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Cheers and happy wine month in California!