Excellent California Cabernet under $20 can be a hard thing to find. Sometime you catch a sale on a really good Napa or Sonoma bottling, but that is the exception. If you look elsewhere, either Central Coast, Mendocino or Lake you can find some pretty good juice at reasonable prices. Here is an example from the Central Coast, and it is a big, full throttle Cabernet which is already drinking well. The wine:
Wine: 2012 Smith & Hook Cabernet Sauvignon
Winery Location: California, Central Coast
Tasted By: Neil & Cheri Date: May 2014
Tasting Notes: – this is very dark purple, and almost black sitting in the glass. There is an intense nose of dark fruit, charred oak, black currant and what to me smells like lychee. Long legs hug the glass after a swirl. On the palate the wine is full bodied and luscious. There is black fruit, but here the oak is more subtle and well integrated into the wine’s overall profile. It finished very long and satisfying. The tannins are there but approachable, and the wine should age well for a while. Wow – this is good!
Price Point – $17.99 on what we thought was a sale. Turns out you can have it for $13.99 at a couple of places on wine-searcher. It was still easily worth the $17.99.
Would We Buy It? – we would buy more at $17.99. I would buy more at $27.99. At $13.99 this is about as big a no brainer as you will find. Buy a brace. Try it. Try it. You will see!
There are always great values hiding around a corner somewhere. This is one of them.
A votre sante!
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