Grande Reserve Bergerac Cabernet Merlot 2009

This can probably be thrown on to the 'it's only worth it's offer price' heap. I thought it was worth a try because of Bergerac's proximity to Bordeaux and the 2009 vintage being an excellent one.

I didn't like it so much though - forgive the lack of technical terms here, but I just didn't like the taste.

When I think about it, there aren't too many cheap French reds that I like, except the odd one from Southern Rhone or the Languedoc, if it's on offer. They seem to lack the bright fruit flavours that cheaper New World wines have that make them so gluggable. That's just my opinion and taste however.

Grandissime

Grande Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon / Merlot 2009

Bergerac AOC, France

Sainsbury's

£4.99 (£9.99)

2/5

Francis Ford Coppola 'Director's Cut' Cabernet Sauvignon 2006

I bought this wine because it was named the 'best value' wine in a recent California Cabernet Sauvignon tasting in Decanter magazine. It was £20 in Oddbins.

I didn't really like it, but I'm not sure it's Francis' fault. We had it after a bottle of Chateau Palmer Alter Ego, and we thought it would be good for comparison. It was good for comparison - as it was completely different. I won't hold it to the same standards as Palmer (maybe I should?), but it was a bit strange. It was very spicy oaked, vanilla. The main characteristics reminded me of a southern Rhone wine actually. I like California Cabernet the most next to Bordeaux, but this was something else.

It opened up, and revealed it's own depth and structure. Quality wine, but not really what I expected.

And another thing - these North Americans with their celebrity wineries... I've tried a couple of the Canadian ones (Mike Weir Pinot Gris - thought it was really good, and being Canadian I'd buy anything with Wayne Gretzky's name on it), but do these guys really like wine this much? Is it something their PR managers tell them to do? Is it a box to tick in their career?

Francis Ford Coppola Winery

Director's Cut Cabernet Sauvignon 2006

Alexander Valley, California

Oddbins

£19.99

3/5

Dona Paulina Cabernet Sauvignon 2009

The Merlot got a 2, this gets a bit more.

This has a little more depth to it, and we were saying things like 'it's not that bad', or 'it's OK'. Structured, dense and serious? Certainly not. Party glugger? Why not? Plus, it doesn't have any cheap and nasty flavours to it.

Quick note: it looks like the prices of these have gone up since I ordered last week - they were £4.50 then.

Dona Paulina

Cabernet Sauvignon 2009

Rapel Valley, Chile

The Wine Society

£4.75

2.5/5

Isla Negra Cabernet Sauvignon

I confess I don't even know what vintage this was - we drank the bottle then immediately disposed of it, and now that I've finally got around to posting about it I don't know all the details (is it a 'Reserva'?). It's the one that was just half price at Tesco. Not very professional, but hey, I'm not getting paid for this. Also, I suspect it doesn't really make a difference.

This wine tastes like it was made in a steel tank the size of a nuclear cooling tower. It's soft and easy drinking - great, but not what I look for in a Cabernet Sauvignon. I suppose I shouldn't expect any more than the unstructured raspberry juice that this is, so I shouldn't complain. But then again, if I was paying the full price of £9 for this, I would return the empty bottle in the form of a Molotov cocktail through Tesco's front windows.

If you like unchallenging red wine for quaffing, and if it's half price, then by all means go for it. I think it's inferior to say, Casellero del Diablo's Cabernet offering, but whatever floats your boat.

Isla Negra

Cabernet Sauvignon

Chile

Tesco

£4.49 (£8.99)

2/5

Stag's Leap Winery Cabernet Sauvignon 2006

This is the second bottle a friend of mine brought back to the UK from a recent trip he took to the USA. It's a Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon from the Stag's Leap district in the Napa Valley, which was apparently the first appellation ever designated as an AVA.

Stag's Leap Winery is not to be confused with Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, whose wine topped the list of entrants in the red category at the famous Judgement of Paris tasting in 1976.

We all felt this wine was fabulous. Above all, it was balanced. It wasn't big or overblown, but instead restrained. Fruity but also slightly creamy, with a long, long finish. Very Bordeaux-like I thought, as opposed to say an Australian or Chilean Cabernet. Really good stuff. Not cheap, but you're not going to find Cabernet Sauvignon like this for much less.

Stag's Leap Winery

Cabernet Sauvignon 2006

Stag's Leap District AVA, Napa Valley, California

~$50 USD

4.5/5

Waitrose Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon, Valdivieso 2006

Thought I'd give this a try, as I have a thing for Valdivieso, but perhaps for not much longer. I liked their single-vineyard Pinot Gris, and the Pinot Noir was interesting. This Cabernet however I found to be pretty dull, to be frank.

Sweet fruit, green pepper, and that Chilean green-ness, all for less than £7 (on offer). I'm not complaining at this price (yes I am), but it's underwhelming - that or I'm just not into this style. It's too fleshy, or something. I find the same thing with with Australian Cabernet. Perhaps you need to spend bigger to get real character.

Valdivieso

Waitrose Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon 2006

Maipo Valley, Chile

Waitrose

£6.40 (£8.54)

2.5/5

Penfolds Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cabernet 2006

Penfolds Koonunga Hill is a multi-region (Barossa, McLaren Vale, and Coonawarra) blend of Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon. OK, I admit that I ran out and bought 2 bottles of this because I heard that it received 91 points from The Wine Advocate. Not only that, but it only costs £7.99. What's there not to like?

Turns out not a lot, but not a lot to like either. It has an almost sour, fruitcake nose with smoky red fruit on the palate, followed by some grippy tannins. I thought it improved slightly overnight in an opened bottle. This tastes to me like any other £8 Australian red blend.

It's OK, but I don't see what the big deal is. Perhaps the 91 points is a myth? I can't back up the claim because I don't subscribe to The Wine Advocate, so apologies for possibly perpetuating hearsay.

Penfolds

Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cabernet 2006

South Australia

Waitrose

£7.99

3/5

Paul Mas Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2007

I don't get Paul Mas. His wines have been the subject of praise from wine writers over the last couple of years. In fact, my very first blog post was a Paul Mas wine. I didn't like it, and I don't really like this one either.

My brother in law described this wine as "smooth". I guess that makes it good? Frankly, I don't want "smooth" in a Cabernet Sauvignon. I want jagged tannins and piercing fruit. If I wanted smooth I'd go for a Beaujoulais. That's just me - I guess there's nothing wrong with this. Maybe it's miles better than any other Cabernet produced in the Languedoc? Feel free to explain it to me...

Paul Mas

Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2007

Languedoc, VdP d'Oc, France

Majestic

£6.49 (when you buy 2 or more, regular £7.99)

2.5/5

Gallo Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon 2005

Although E & J Gallo may be known for hideous jug wines and cheap, bland varietals, they also produce higher-end wine, of which this fine Cabernet is an example.  Gallo started developing vineyards in California's Sonoma County in the 1980's, and it is here that some of their finest wines are made.

This Cabernet, is, I think, more of a mid-level wine, but it is good nonetheless.  It has a strong Cabernet nose, with a whiff of that green-pepper character.  On the palate it is a bit serious, and I easily could have mistaken it for a Bordeaux.  Really nice.  Not too much oak character either.  It was in good shape and easily could have done with a few more years of bottle age.

I'm wondering if this is one of those "made-for-supermarket" wines.  I couldn't find it on the main Gallo website (the closest I could find was something called "Sonoma Reserve"), or the UK site (nothing at all).  I find this slightly annoying, as it would be nice to know a bit more about the wine, as the back label doesn't tell you much either.

Gallo Family Vineyards

Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon 2005

Sonoma County, California, USA

Sainsbury's

£9.99 (£14.99)

3.5/5

Wakefield St. Andrews Cabernet Sauvignon 1996

It's rare to find older vintages of new world wines in shops, so I regard this as quite a find. It first came to my attention when my Irish brother-in-law-to-be bought some at his local shop in Midelton, Cork (home of the Old Midelton distillery) and brought it over to London. I was pretty impressed, so when we went to visit them at Easter I went to the shop to check it out. It was quite the place...my relatives thought it was just the local off-license, but they had quite a range of wines from all over the world (including Canada!), plus the more obligatory stuff like Bordeaux and Burgundy. But what impressed me was the little bin-ends section where this St. Andrews stuff could be found, along with other things like old white Burgundies (of which we tried a very oxidized example).

I have tried both a Cabernet Sauvignon and a Shiraz from this label, and both are equally impressive. They age extremely well, and retain all the power of a new vintage without all the green flavours normally associated with big Aussie reds. It was a priviledge to drink these wines, because as I said it's rare to be able to by a single bottle of an older vintage like this. I think we've cleaned that shop out of all their St. Andrews, but I'll definitely be checking out that place again the next time I'm back there!

Wakefield
St. Andrews Cabernet Sauvignon 1996
4/5

Paul Mas Cabernet Sauvignon 2007

Picked this up at Waitrose tonight for under a fiver. I think it was £4.79, on sale, reduced from £5.99.

It's a Vin de Pays D'Oc from the south of France, boasting a sticker that says "2008 Top 100, Vins de Pays de France". I had no idea what that meant, but knowing that Waitrose has a good buying staff I thought it sounded like a good bet.

I didn't like it. It has what I can only describe as that "cheap wine taste". It's thin, not much fruit, and not much body or length, except for a lingering, slightly bitter aftertaste. Food helps a bit (I was having pizza - tannins weren't an issue), and after half a bottle I thought it was tolerable, but too little too late.

I noted that this wine's entry the Waitrose website says it has a screwcap closure. This is wrong - it's a synthetic closure (a "Nomacorc").

Paul Mas Cabernet Sauvignon 2007
Pezenas, France
Vin de Pays d'Oc
Waitrose
£4.79 (£5.99)
2/5