Oak Leaf Cabernet Sauvignon

Oak Leaf Cabernet Sauvignon

This week I tried a cheaper Cabernet Sauvignon and was very pleased with the outcome. I paired this wine with a sesame chicken dish from a local Chinese restaurant. I enjoyed this combination and look forward to trying other cuisines with different kinds of wines. Upon smelling the wine I found it to be of a similar smell to most other red wines I've encountered where a strong blueberry or raspberry smell was present. This wine had a medium body with a deep dark almost grape juice purple color as well. The after taste was not bitter and it tasted very tannic. When first tasting this wine I had an overwhelming taste of Welsh's grape juice. It was hard however to smell and taste any other fruits or flavors which I can only conclude if they are there they aren't very potent or obvious. I feel that this up coming week I may try to purchase a new blended wine to keep things interesting. This was a tasty wine, but I was overall pretty bored with what was going on there. Hopefully this weeks wine will have some more to say than this wine. Can't ask for much more from a cheaper wine however.

   

Red Rock Winery Winemaker's Blend

Red Rock Winery

Winemaker's Blend

I found this wine to be very enjoyable and at a very reasonable price of $11.00. It was a mix of Sirah, Zinfandel, and Merlot. This wine was a deep dark wine with a lot of tannin's and not as much sweetness to the body. The lack of sweetness would make me think that the Sirah wasn't as present compared to the other grapes in the wine. This wine has a fruity berry smell and a smooth finish to the wine when tasting. I enjoyed this wine paired with a chicken and pasta meal which I felt it went very well with it. I look forward to experimenting with more blended wines as this is the first one I can recall trying in my life. I feel that a blended wine could offer a much more exciting wine compared to just one varietal wine. As a California wine I believe that this wine did a very good job encompassing the different grapes into a very nice blend. This is definitely a wine I would recommend to my friends and relatives to try. I like this wine enough that in the near future i will try this wine again, possibly in another vintage and see what differences I taste. I hope by then my pallet will be able to better describe the different smells and tastes to wine.