Cabernet Sauvignon Smackdown

Posted by Keith Wallace in Wine Reviews

In an office cluttered with wine bottles, both full and empty, it’s hard not to think of myself as Mayor of Boozeville.  Every once in awhile, an editor will stroll in and talk shop. Someone else will poke in to pour themselves a glass or two. Other than those few moments, it’s just me and the wine for hours and hours.  It’s a lovely job writing wine reviews, but also a bit solitary: a drunken cage of corks, so to speak.

Today, there are more empty Cabernet bottles than anything else on my desk, and that is a very good thing.  A mentor of mine once told me that the best way to learn about wine was to pick a grape and dive in. That’s what I have done.

I have been drinking nothing but Cabernet Sauvignon from across the world: from Tuscany to Bordeaux to Napa Valley to South Africa. They all tasted dramatically different, yet each retained a “cab-ishness” quality. One of the most important things I remember from wine school was that each grape varietal has a unique fingerprint. For Cabernet Sauvignon, that fingerprint is an aroma of pencil shavings and green pepper. Sounds gross, but that’s the funny thing about great wine:  it unites crazy smells and flavor in surprisingly delicious ways.

The following are our current top picks. This list gets updated on a weekly and monthly schedule, so check back!

• Merryvale 2008 "Starmont" Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley
  The top bottles of Cabernet Sauvignon reviewed at Epikur Magazine. From Tuscany to Bordeaux to Napa Valley and South Africa: This list includes the best of the best bottles of Cab Sauv currently available, and the ones with the best quality to price ratio.
• Erasmo 2006 Viña La Reserva de Caliboro, Maule Valley, Chile
  The top bottles of Cabernet Sauvignon reviewed at Epikur Magazine. From Tuscany to Bordeaux to Napa Valley and South Africa: This list includes the best of the best bottles of Cab Sauv currently available, and the ones with the best quality to price ratio.
• Cabernet Sauvignon Smackdown
  

  The top bottles of Cabernet Sauvignon reviewed at Epikur Magazine. From Tuscany to Bordeaux to Napa Valley and South Africa: This list includes the best of the best bottles of Cab Sauv currently available, and the ones with the best quality to price ratio.

• CrossBarn 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon
  

  The “CrossBarn” is remarkably similar to the “Paul Hobbs,” but at half the price. It is lush and dense with richly soft tannins, it stains the glass with a deep crimson. Full bodied, it offers up rich flavors of blackberry and burnt oak that are deeply embedded into a savory impression of fresh bay laurel and roses.

• Andrew Will Winery 2007 Two Blondes Vineyard
  

  Figs and cassis meld with coffee and campfire notes, along with a strong impression of Herbes de Provence. The midpalate brings in fresher red fruits, and serious oak-influenced flavors of chocolate and allspice. The finish rolls on and on, bringing more pleasure than anyone could expect from a glass of wine.

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