Today we’ll look at two more reds, both inexpensive and both Cabernet Sauvignon. One is from a steady California producer and another from Sicily. One is going on the value list. Here they are:
Wine: 2011 Bogle Cabernet Sauvignon Winery Location: Clarksburg, CA
Tasted By: Neil & Cheri Date: December 2013
Tasting Notes: Bogle has been a favorite of ours over the last few years due to their consistency and their value. You generally are going to get a pretty good bottle of wine when you pick up a Bogle Cab, Merlot or Petite Sirah. We’ve even liked their Phantom, which has a lot of red Zin in it, and we almost never really like red Zin blends. You’re also going to usually be paying about $10 or so, maybe a few bucks higher, so you’re almost always getting value. This wine was a bit of a disappointment.
It has a classic Cabernet nose and palate. The currant and other fruit aromas and flavors are somewhat muted however, and this comes across as a bit hollow. There’s no depth here. The flavor profile doesn’t grab your palate, it washes over it and then fades. There is some length but it’s holding on to that restrained palate. Medium bodied at best, this just isn’t very impressive. It’s not bad, but it’s not really good either. You won’t scream you got ripped off at $11, but you probably won’t buy more. We expect better from this producer. 2011 must have been a tough year.
Price Point – ~$11
Would We Buy It? Not again, this just doesn’t impress and you can do better for the money. Bogle is a solid producer, so don’t let this turn you off to their wines in general. We’ve liked just about everything else we’ve tried from them.
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Wine: 2011 Villa Pozzi Cabernet Sauvignon
Winery Location: Sicily
Tasted By: Neil & Cheri Date: December 2013
Tasting Notes: We’ve reviewed Villa Pozzi’s 2012 Nero D’avola, which was an outstanding value and which you can read about here. This is the 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon, and we’ll summarize right now and tell you it is just a notch below the Nero D’avola, but we still think it presents great value. The wine is deep red in color, with good fruit aromas. The flavor profile is rich and round, with medium body. The Cabernet fruit continues through the mid palate into a nice finish with good length. It’s a good, solid everyday type wine that can be had for little dollars. We tend to like that. Don’t expect a god $30 bottle of wine, but it will out perform a lot of $15 bottles out there.
Price Point – 2 for $15, or $7.50 each (I did the math in my head!)
Would We Buy It? – We have and we probably will again. The last time we bought a case. This is a very solid everyday wine and an excellent value.
So we have two Cabernets, and one which we’ll add to the value list. I wouldn’t buy this particular bottle of Bogle again, but we will try many more Bogle wines. Their track record is too good. As for Villa Pozzi, that is a name I would keep on the radar. We’ve been very impressed with the limited offerings we’ve tried to date.
A votre sante!
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