Score: 89/100 pts
While attending the Wine Bloggers Conference, I had the pleasure of being given a bottle of wine for review by Emily Martin aka The Jetsetting Fashionista.
This was a bottle of 2013 Cultivar Cabernet Sauvignon.
The wine is a 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley, aged for 12 months in 100% French oak barrels, 40% of which are new.
It retails around $29 in the US.
Tasting Notes:
The wine comes in a rather dark red color, slightly purple which intensifies the depth of the wine’s apparently black hue.
Dominant notes on the nose are fruity ripe berries (blackcurrant and cherry), and minty (peppermint). Licorice, black olive, clove, and black pepper provide depth to the aromas. Solid aromatic intensity.
Full-bodied, there is plenty of tannins. The later are quite dense and granulous, and they provide a distinct bitterness giving a savory feel to the finish while the bulk of the flavors are fruit- and oak-driven.
The spices detected on the nose are obvious and persistent in the mouth too. They greatly contribute to giving this wine personality and character.
Grippy acidity all along the palate, combines with the slightly-edgy tannins for a biting taste buds feel that suggest the wine will be very food-friendly, and could age for a few years (3 to 5 max.).
The presence of oak is obvious, as much in the flavors that are revealed on the palate (vanilla, hazelnut, cocoa) as with the silky texture that tries to cover the voluminous tannic structure.
Overall
A very solid Cab Sauv from Napa Valley, displaying plenty of good concentration a genuine personality through a complex savory and food-friendly flavor-profile.
For a decent price, you get the fruit-power of a good Cabernet Sauvignon, combined with the character provided by a solid acidity and grippy tannins smoothen by a quality-oak feel.
Please let me know your thoughts