Price: $18 (3L)

Region: California

Year: 2007

It has been quite a while since my last post. I know it gets crazy around the holidays for everyone, but it just seems that when the routine changes so drastically, this is one of the things that gets missed. That isn't to say I didn't have plenty of good (and some bad) wine over the last three weeks. In fact, I have quite a backlog to choose from. The first wine I plan on reviewing is another selection from Black Box. As you can tell from my top 5 list, the Black Box Merlot is one on the list for its blend of quality, and absolutely great price. I wanted to see if the Cabernet could stand up to its sibling.

I didn't write a whole lot of supporting notes down, so I'm not 100% sure which weekend I bought this wine, but I'm pretty sure it was the week before Christmas. I had a list of a little more expensive wines I wanted to try out for Christmas, so with the equivalent of 4 bottles of win, this one was to hold me over until the holidays started in full force. Not much surprise on the color being it was a Cabernet. For a grape like this, as long as it doesn't look pale when being poured, I'm pretty happy. The interesting thing about the smell was it was a bit more fruity than I expected. Kind of a bit similar to the Merlot if I remember correctly. So, when I took my first sip, I was happy to find it was a nice smooth wine, but it definitely didn't have that nice "chewiness" you get from a good Cabernet. You could tell it was an inexpensive selection, but overall, it was a nice wine. That is especially true again, given the price breaks down to about $5 for a 750 Ml bottle. This was wasn't quite the home run in my book as the Merlot, but a very good everyday wine, and one that last for a good while given a couple of glasses a day.

Rating: 3.5 (A solid drinking wine)