2008 Black Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon – $9

Sometimes, supermarket wines rise above their humble origins and really deliver the goods. There is nothing about the Black Ridge Cab that leads you to believe it is anything but average, that is until you taste it. But here it is, a nice real Cabernet Sauvignon for under 10 bucks.

Blended with a little Cabernet Franc and Petite Sirah, this wine has black cherry and cassis flavors with an oaky rich finish. Steak and roast lamb would be a perfect fit.

2009 Coopernet Cabernet Sauvignon – $14

This wine is dedicated to the first place Chicago White Sox and their fans. As everyone knows, championship teams are built around pitching and the White Sox having a pitching coach second to none.

Don Cooper has been the best pitching coach in the majors for several years, and now in his honor we have a wine in his name.

Don Cooper’s “Coopernet” 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon is a tasty treat. It is fruit forward with plum and cassis. It is a bold, chewy Cab with a nice long finish. But the best part of this wine is that all proceeds go to one of our favorite charities, the St. Baldrick’s Foundation. At St. Baldrick’s events, men and woman shave their heads in solidarity with children with cancer, raising money for childhood cancer research.

So go buy this delicious Cab and help the charities as well. And GO SOX !!

2007 Snap Dragon Cabernet Sauvignon – $8

Had an interesting wine at my local P.F. Chang’s last night, where they do a little something different for their flights – they offer a “build your own” flight of three.

I went for the 2007 MacMurray Ranch Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir, (reviewed here a while back), the 2007 7 Deadly Zins Zinfandel, and the awesomely easy-to-drink 2007 Snap Dragon Cabernet Sauvignon.

Dark burgundy in the glass, chocolate covered cherries on the nose, medium body with raspberries and blackberries up front give way to a smoooooth toasty vanilla spice and toffee finish.

Winemaker Jason Dodge sourced his fruit from the best vineyards in California, creating this affordable, approachable, great at twice the price cab that will go well with BBQ, grilled steak, roast beef, pizza or spicy pork dishes.

CheapWineFinder’s Expedition Into The Bordeaux Grand Cru Jungle

Cheapwinefinder somehow got invited to the Chicago stop on the 2007 Vintage Grands Crus de Bordeaux Trade Tasting Tour. You would have thought they would have noticed our name and said “these guys really don’t belong here”, but we managed to get in.

In talking to “Wine People” before the event we kept hearing that the 2007 vintage was nothing special and that the makers of the highest rated wines didn’t make the trip. Everyone we spoke to was blasé about the whole event, like it was every day you get to taste 75 Grand Cru Bordeaux wines.

We were not blasé, we ran into the tasting room like puppy dogs wagging their tails, we were kids in the candy store. But I have to admit to tasting fatigue, all the red Grand Crux wines are blends of 3 or 4 grapes, with either Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon in the lead and Cabernet Franc as the other main grape. The wines were all variations on a theme, really good variations on a theme, but after awhile the wines start to taste very similar. Now, our efforts to try to taste every single red wine in the room might have had something to do with our palates giving out. Maybe there is something to having too much of a good thing.

As we started to wear down and wear out at the very end of the tasting, we were rejuvenated when as the room lights were being flicked off and on to signal the end of the show, the representative from Chateau Pape Clement handed us a bottle of Red wine and a bottle of White wine to take home. We were like kids that had just won the bean bag toss at the grade school fun fair, we left with our trophy’s proudly on display.

So, what did we learn about Grand Cru Bordeaux Wine? Well, it’s really excellent stuff, made to the highest standards. Several of the Chateau’s upon seeing our name-tags told us that they do have a second line brand of wine, all sourced from their vineyard, that was in the cheapwinefinder price range. Grand Cru is out of this websites’ reach, but Bordeaux wines can be affordable. You know there is alot of good wines out there, just waiting for us to discover them.

2007 Les Traverses de Fontanes – $15

This is a delicious and unusual bottle of wine, and an amazing deal at under $20.  Although it is Cabernet Sauvignon, it pours out bright purple and has a lot of vibrant fruit.  It has raspberry and strawberry and a hint of cocoa.

It honestly is one of the most unique Cabs we have ever tasted, and we really liked it.  It is a must try.

2005 Estancia Cabernet Sauvignon – $18

“We will sell no wine before its time.”

If you’re a geezer like me, you may remember that this was the slogan for Paul Mason wines when Orson Welles was their pitchman in the 1970s and early 80s. And what happened to Paul Mason wines? I don’t know for sure, but they must have fallen on hard times, because In 1986 Augustin Huneeus, a Chilean immigrant and then-president of Franciscan Vineyards, purchased the former Mason vineyard ranches near the Monterey town of Soledad on California‘s Central Coast, and established them as the home of Estancia Winery.

The first replanting of the estate Pinnacles Vineyards was to Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. I first started drinking Estancia’s Cabernet Sauvignon in the late 80s. (The fruit must have been sourced from other local growers, because it wasn’t until 1999 that almost 700 acres in Paso Robles were purchased as the vineyard home for Estancia’s Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Zinfandel, and Red Meritage.)

For the last 20 years, Estancia Cabernet Sauvignon has been my most reliable daily wine. I always keep a case or two in the cellar. When I first started drinking it, it was a steal at $8 a bottle. Today, the normal retail has drifted towards the $16-18 range, but it can occasionally be had for as little as $12 per bottle by the case if you regularly search wine sites for sales. However, even at retail it remains an excellent value.

The color of this wine is classic deep purple. The nose is rather unassuming, and gives little prediction of what is to come. In the glass, the wine starts out quite fruit-forward, with plenty of dark black cherry and currant flavors. The fruit is aided and abetted by toasted sweet oak. Structure is provided by moderate and well-balanced tannins (which become more pronounced after an hour or so in the decanter), and just a hint of pepper and minerality.

These tasting notes are based on the 2005 which I’m currently drinking, but it hardly matters. They must make this stuff in huge tanks or barrels and reserve a large quantity each year for blending, because Estancia Cabernet is the very definition of an unerring house style. I have no idea whether or not this Cab cellars well; it never stays there long enough.

For all of my devotion to Estancia Cabernet Sauvignon, I don’t find the same magic in the rest of their portfolio, which includes all of the usual suspects. The Chardonnay is nice enough, but doesn’t stand out from other similarly priced Chards. The Pinot Noir is thin and unremarkable. The Meritage shows some finesse, but is a poor value at twice the price of the Cabernet. ”

By Stephen Hawk

2007 Ring Bolt Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon – $15

Beautiful and treacherous Western Australia‘s rugged southwest coastline is littered with shipwrecks, one of them being the Ringbolt, sunk in the late 1800s in the vessel’s namesake Ringbolt Bay, at the Southern end of the Margaret River wine region.

Hailing from there, this Aussie Cabernet Sauvignon is just as rugged! The nose is typical of Cabernet Sauvignon grown in this type of cool and rugged climate  – beautifully complex aromas of Swiss dark chocolate, a Starbuck’s Venti no-whip mocha, violets, cassis, cedar, black and green peppers and dried Autumn leaves  . In the mouth it begins with dark fruit before teasing with ripe berries and creamy oak on a looong finish.

A good wine at twice the price! This wine is bold and can handle lamb, chili or spicy Mexican food no problem!

2008 Man Vintners Cabernet Sauvignon – $7

South African reds are far from my favorite. But if you ever catch yourself saying “I’ve tried x and I don’t like x, so I don’t drink x”, then you’re doing it wrong. Vintage to vintage, vineyard to vineyard, vintner to vintner – there’s a BROAD spectrum used as a palette for winemakers as artists to paint their masterpiece using only ONE ingredient. You might not like oaked Chardonnay for example, but have you tried it aged in stainless steel? You might not care for Cabernet Sauvignon, but have you tried it from the Dark Continent?

9 times out of 10, I won’t like South African red wine, but I always give it a chance and taste it when presented with the opportunity. And sure enough, eventually, because I kept an open mind, I’ll find the exception to the rule. That’s how it was with Chardonnay and I. Now I like it – some of it. Because I was persistent and kept at it, I was able to zero in on what I don’t like and what I do like.

In the case of South African reds, it was just a matter of giving them some time to get their shit together. This screwtop from South Africa had some strawberry and cherry on the nose, cassis and black cherry on the palate with a long finish of spicy oak. It may not be a classic, but it has its shit together. Finally.

Bold and juicy, throw some Simphiwe Dana on the MP3 player and drink it with hearty pasta or grilled red meats.

2006 Chateau Smith Cabernet Sauvignon – $16

I am a fan of the wines made by Charles Smith Wines.  He is doing some really cool things with wine at a affordable price. This Cab is sourced from a vineyard in Columbia Valley, Washington. 85% Cabernet, 10% Malbec and 5% Cab Franc, kind of low alcohol for a Cab, only 13.5 %.

Now this is a cool climate Cabernet Sauvignon, if you are going to measure this against a Napa or Sonoma Cab you are going to be taken aback. Not oaky and with smooth tannins, tastes of black and blueberries and chocolate covered cherries. Tastes smooth, not thick, has a nice finish that is nuanced. Charles Smith says that this is not a Bordeaux wine this is a Washington wine, which I take to mean he is turning the terroir thing around on the French.

This is a Cab that would appeal to Barossa Valley Shiraz lovers. Very fruit forward, but still has some complexity. Untwist the screw-top and your ready to go.

2006 Bombing Range Red – $16

A Washington State red blend, mostly Cabernet (78%), Cab Franc (10%), Syrah (8%) and Mourvedre (4%) ($16). Small production wine from McKinley Springs Winery. A very tasty wine, lots of dark ripe fruit, soft and smooth. Starts out like a California Cab then mellows out, soft tannins, no sharp edges. Not a “wow” more like a “nice” wine, and there is nothing wrong with that. Not widely distributed, but worth trying if you can find it.

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