2007 Twenty Bench Cabernet Sauvignon
This is my go-to value wine from Napa Valley for flavor, body, and balance. For under $20, and a couple of years in the basement, you end up with a terrific drinker that is well suited for parties (or other occasions where you have to share). This wine showcases the vintage’s characteristics nicely, with blackberry and blueberry fruits, good minerals, and decent structure. At this stage, the wine offers very good balance and well-controlled tannins. Needless to say, this bottle was quickly drained by the party goers.
2008 Challis Lane Cabernet Sauvignon
This is a California Cabernet that is sourced from more than one wine region in the state. I originally picked up this wine during one of BevMo’s 5-cent sales, where the second of two bottles costs just five cents. I was looking for a nice Cabernet to add to my end-of-summer pasta sauces and decided that two bottles for under ten dollars seemed quite reasonable for cooking. The wine also had decent comments from the store’s wine reviewer so I bought a couple of bottles. Then, some of my $40 cabernet went bad, so I cooked with that instead. I still have more of the bad Cabernet, so I decided to bring this bottle two years later to tonight’s party. I held my breath as the bottle was uncorked and poured. Much to my surprise, it was better received than the Twenty Bench Cabernet, which cost me four times as much. Curiosity commanded my attention so I poured myself a taste.
What a delightful wine this has turned into after two years in the cellar! While this wine lacks the structure of the Twenty Bench (and better wines), it offers deliciously clean fruits of blackberry and raspberry, and a suggestion of minerals. The real treat was the wine’s smoothness and impeccable balance. If anybody had told me I could turn a $5 wine into a $20 wine just by cellaring it for two years, I would have bought a case of it. I just checked online and the 2010 vintage is selling for $10 each.
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