Sean Minor Cabernet Sauvignon
When I first started on the wine trip years and years ago, I
much preferred the lightness and sweetness of a white Zin, for instance, over
the big bad brute that Cabs are. Even to this day, my preference is not for the
heavier wines, though my wife's preference is perhaps closer to that, so there are
not very many of the red Zins or the Cabs showing up here. This heaviness actually
precludes much interest from me in Ports, as well.
Skipping back, but less back, to maybe 4 or 5 years ago or
so, when she sort of co-opted what was still, for me, mostly a passing
interest, aside from a few French favorites (several of which are currently too
expensive to appear on this list) that I had on a fairly seldom basis, I
happened to be having a discussion with a friend who was heavier into things,
having taken a few Napa wine tours and so on and with another friend, who was
on the beginning curve to taking his own leap into wine exploration. The gist
of this conversation was sort of note-comparing and he pointed me to a
California Cab that he had really enjoyed and which was immediately available.
By now, you’ve probably guessed it was this one.
One of the things I’ve always disliked about Cabs, in
addition to what I’ve always considered their sort of plodding nature in terms
of mouth feel, is their rather lengthy air time. A freshly opened Cab is
usually a repository of astringency from the high tannins, which rather forces
things into not only sips, but small sips. The vast majority of Cabs I’ve had
are this way…save this one. This one has less astringency at the gate and
smooths out a lot faster. There’s still all the body you could possibly want,
but it is never quite to the point of being excessive, such as those other ones
seem to be. It’s still a bit more than I usually desire, but it is a very, very
good wine and I’ll usually work a bottle in once a quarter or so.
This is another I’ve never seen come up on SPA, same for the
Pinot from them, if I remember correctly and the wine itself is too much to try
to slug on a regular basis, but at $13 or $14 a bottle, picking one up isn’t
exactly going to break the bank either, which puts this as a Mixed.
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