This Santa Rita Cab definitely falls into the category of good cheap wine. As a Reserva, we expected something a little better than the usual low-priced Cab from South America and it did deliver.
The nose is dry but flavorful with a touch of herbs; not really fruity but kind of tight.
On the palate, there is an initial hit of fruit and then the tannins kick in. Wife thought cherries, tart cherries though the label on the bottle identified "black fruit and plums". Wife and label agreed that there was nice spice to it. Husband thought the wine was rich and sturdy and didn't really consider there to be much tartness.
Where we also differed was on the finish. Husband liked the fairly long soft tannins with a touch of oak and vanilla. Wife didn't like the finish that much, saying it was almost slightly bitter like orange zest.
We had this wine with curried pumpkin soup and pita bread and we felt it wasn't really the best food/wine combination. Sometimes that's what happens, though, when when you get down to the bottom of the wine cooler.
We thought this wine had generous structure and enough complexity to keep anyone interested in sipping a glass, with or without food. Despite having a few reservations, Wife thinks a lot of people would really like this wine. Husband though it was a little rough around the edges but agreed that it was certainly likable. At $12.99, however, we thought this wine was a little expensive for what it offered.
Value: 7 out of 10
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We are a typical suburban husband and wife with
two children, a dog and a cat. We also like good food and, not incidentally, good wine. It is no coincidence that we
met and fell in love over gourmet meals and fine bottles of wine. Wine tasting was one of our favorite activities.
There are two aspects to value. First, does the wine taste good? Cheap wine doesn't have to
taste cheap or nasty. Second, is it worth the money? Could we have found a similar tasting wine for a lot less money?
Could we have found much better tasting wine at the same price? These are subjective criteria but we'll give you our
opinion.
1 comments:
I purchased this yesterday since it was an inexpensive reserve for $10.99. I was pleasantly surprised. I am in agreement on the finish - there is a bit of vanilla there that makes it worthwhile for me. Could be an addition to the regular inexpensive wine list for the price/value.
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