This is your basic young California Cabernet. Josh is actually made by Joseph Carr (as you can see in the top left of the picture) but this is their next tier up from the basic wines. We’ve had it in the past and liked it however we’ve never had it this young. What do we eat with cabs? Steak. We went with steak tips and grilled potatoes.

colonelgrape: 73. I can’t give it a terrible score because I know this wine has potential as I’ve had it in the past but this bottle was just too young. It was bursting fruit and it was just too simple to drink right now. There weren’t as many tannins as I expected but that’s probably because we decanted it well before dinner. I have a rule of thumb for California Cabernet: Don’t drink it less than 3 years old. I find a lot of them are good from 3-5 years but anything younger is just jammy and full of tannin…especially the less expensive bottles. If you’re going to drink cab young make sure you decant it properly and if you can afford it go with a reputable producer.

MobyGrape: 83.  This one was decanting for well over an hour by the time we got to drinking it, that probably helped out the rating.  I don’t know if it was the age or the decanting but there weren’t strong tannins, it lived on the fruitier side of cab and didn’t have that winey taste that some younger cabs have.  When I say fruitier I mean that it doesn’t actually taste like fruit to me, but as far as wines go I can convince myself it tastes like some kind of berry if someone’s demanding that it does *ahem, Colonel* but it’s not like drinking juice or eating an actual fruit.  Anyways, perfectly fine wine for a non-fancy meaty dinner (save the good stuff for a nice steak).  Even though I’m pretty sure I picked this one up I can’t quite remember how much it was, hopefully I didn’t pay too much for it.  Maybe it was $15 or so.

PS: We’re almost done reviewing all of our 2012 wines. Stay tuned for a summary of our December ratings and we’ll finish it off with our Champagne choice from New Year’s Eve.

Wow, that is a busy picture. We’ve got a Christmas tree, a Cosmo, more Christmas lights, poinsettias, a piece of cow still mooing, and most importantly a fantastic bottle of wine. Seriously if you’ve never had a bottle of any of the “Leap” California cabs you are missing out. These are the 3 “Leap” cabs I’m talking about:

Stags’ Leap Wineries

Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars

Frog’s Leap Winery

You’ll notice there are two “Stag” locations in California but don’t get them mixed up, they are very different. In fact they even sued each other over the names of the wineries! You’ll notice the apostrophe is after the “s” in Stags’ Leap Wineries…that was the end result in the lawsuit…money well spent I’m sure. We have yet to review either of them but I can assure you we’ve tried them and they are fantastic….and there more bottles of each waiting for us in the cellar. All their basic bottles cost between $40-$60 with the reserve and estate bottles anywhere from $100-$300.

California cabernet has been on a roll for the past 11 years, their last bad vintage was in 2000. I personally have found 2004 and 2007 to be my favorites.  Let’s talk about the 2008 Frog’s Leap:

colonelgrape: 91. A tie with MobyGrape! This is seriously an excellent wine however I think the 2009 Groth Cabernet (CG 92, MG 88) is ever so slightly superior. Big everything: tannis, acidity, fruit, and body. Dark fruit flavors of blackberry, plum, and black cherry pop out throughout the sip. It’s not overdone though, you can drink this cab alone but I think you’re crazy if you do. What you need here is exactly what’s in the picture: a deliciously rare piece of cow…preferably fatty cow such as ribeye. The tannis will cut right through the fat leaving your palate happy throughout the meal. I can’t stress eating these cabs with steak enough…it’s meant to be. Also, this is a personal preference, but if your meat is cooked more than the bite in this picture you are doing it wrong.

MobyGrape: 91. Couldn’t be more pleased with an old cab standby.  As usual, we busted out the cab for a ribeye and potato night, and it didn’t disappoint.  And guess what?  It tasted like a cab.  Tanniny (I know the Colonel will say fruity, and maybe it tasted a bit more fruity than say Groth) and just dry enough to make you want more.  For a real treat get a nice fatty bit of steak and have it with the wine, it’ll be a little wine cow party in your mouth.  Just don’t bother trying to kiss the bottle and turn it into a prince, the wine’s better.

Last night we had grilled steak tips with red potatoes and an old standby, Groth Cabernet. You can find it on sale for $40 but it typically sells between $50-$60. Moby will tell you our Groth story:

MobyGrape: 88.  Drinking this wine is like getting a hug from an old friend.  It’s inviting, it’s solid, and it leaves you wanting another.  I guess it’s tanniny?  It does leave you a bit dry after the sip, but not in a bad way.  I find it makes me want more.  I’ve been having a hard time using my grown up wine words lately and differentiating between that and acidity, but I think acid is more like a bitter assault on your mouth.  Regardless, this is one of my favorite cabs that we’ve ever tried.  We found it by eavesdropping on a couple people that seemed well off who ordered it at one of our favorite restaurants.  Then we found it on the menu and it was stupid expensive and bought it at a store for a fraction of the price.  But anyways the wine – I find it pretty smooth, not winey (even though it’s young, so I’m told), we had it with steak and certainly holds its own but I don’t have a problem drinking it by itself, either.  The longer it sits out the more tang it gets.  It’s just a great all around wine, let’s leave it at that.

colonelgrape: 92. This is a traditional “cab n’ slab” wine…it screams “eat me with steak.” Everything you’d expect from a big California Cabernet: big tannis, big fruit flavor and good structure. Find the fattiest steak you can, crack open a bottle of Groth, and you are on your way. This wine is perfect for aging, I have a bottle of 07, 08, and 09 I intend to age for at least 10 years, but it’s good enough to drink now as well.

Bonus potato recipe: I think these potatoes are a great way to mix up the standard potato: using red potatoes, peel and slice them into 1/8 inch thick bite sized pieces, make an aluminum foil pouch for them, a few chunks of butter, salt and pepper. Seal up the pouch so it can be flipped (this is important) and throw it on the grill on medium heat. We make about 5 medium sized red potatoes for the two of us and they grill for about 15-20 mins on one side and 5-10 min on the other. I usually start these on the grill about 10-15 mins before the steak. When they are done they will be soft and delicious with one side being golden brown. They stick to the foil sometimes but don’t be afraid to work them off, those are the best bites!