I started a new job this month and after a long recovery from our vacation and settling into our new routine we’re back to our old habbits…drinking wine and talking about it. We enjoyed this bottle with a nice medium rare top round roast and roasted asparagus with lemon juice, olive oil, and parmesan cheese. It was a nice meal and very affordable. If you’re in the mood for meat and want to spend $10 or less try a top round roast.

colonelgrape: 82. I think Moby described this wine perfectly as a Gateway wine. We first discovered this wine at a local restaurant and drank it on a regular basis for a while. We were able to find it at NH liquor stores on the way home for $17 but you can find it for anywhere from $20-23 regularly. After some time away from it and exposure to more “serious” wines this bottle came across as a huge dark fruit bomb. The tannis were hardly noticeable for a cab and there were big notes of black currant, black raspberry, and black cherry. We almost polished it off before the meal was over becuase it was drinking so easily. It’s a good wine but it’s really not a great cab…too fruity and not enough structure. If that’s what your looking for it’s spectacular but based on all the cabs I’ve tried it just doesn’t fit in. I’ve been saving a bottle of 2007 to have with something nice but I think I’m going to reconsider and just pop it one day soon. Bottom line is try it if you like fruit, easy going wines and it’s a good, gentle way to get into cabs. Once you’re into cabs though you may find you’re palate is beyond this bottle.

MobyGrape: 86. Where do I start with this one? This was one of our gateway wines we found at one of our favorite restaurants, and we thought it was such a huge bold cab that we’d never drink anything else. This time we drank it and it felt like juicy juice, I wanted the tiny little ineffective straw and everything. It was so much fruitier than I remembered, I wasn’t disappointed, just surprised. Did I love it any less? Absolutely not. Did I gulp it down like a thirsty gal who found water in the desert? You bet! If you want to ease into wines, this is a good place to start, or if you just want something that’s not too complicated and goes down easy. It’s like a scratch ticket. You don’t have to think too much, just enjoy!

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.