You know the phrase “misery loves company”? Well, I think this post will reflect that because I subjected my Dear Cousin Catherine to 4 questionable Cabernet’s…I could not have stomached this alone…

Here is the usual line up:

Charles Shaw, 12.5% alc, grapes from Napa/Sonoma.

Smell: black cherry, licorice.

Taste: raspberry, gravel

Catherine’s assessment: light bodied, not awful or offensive….but then she sort of trailed off from there…I guess hoping to add something really positive but couldn’t.

Three Wishes, 12.5% alc, grapes from Ripon/Livermore.

Smell: light dirt, plum, raspberry

Taste: light cherry-vanilla, with a citrus bite on the end.

Catherine’s assessment: kind of forgettable…but that’s a good thing.

Winking Owl, 12.5% alc, grapes from Ripon/Livermore.

Smell: funky forest floor.

Taste: cherry vinegar with tannins

Catherine’s assessment: Smell: tomatillo enchiladas Taste: raspberry cough drops

Oak Leaf, 12.5% alc, grapes from Ripon/Livermore.

Smell: wet dog, mud

Taste: red wine vinegar

Catherine’s assessment: Holy Crap! what is that? Is it time to take out the trash?

As the wines started to sit for a while, we noticed that they started changing.

The Charles Shaw was actually kind of pleasant, but we don’t know if that’s because the others were so bad.

Three Wishes started getting a little more dark fruit and rounding out the mouth a little better.

Oak Leaf was getting more metallic and Winking Owl was becoming more candied fruit.

Overall, we thought Charles Shaw was more tolerable and Catherine said, “even though these may be cheap wines, I would decant them”.

In reality, the tasting was a lot of fun. We laughed a lot and ended the evening with a wonderful half bottle of 2004 Stonefly Cabernet Sauvignon www.stoneflyvineyards.com. I will have to say at first I smelled something funky in it but as the wine opened up, I could finally get what a Cabernet should be: black cherry, anise, cigar box, and mushroom….no vineger!

And for those who are feeling sorry for my Dear Cousin Catherine being subjected to such “interesting” wines…don’t! She is the one who helped me with the Chateau Montelena tasting. Here is the link:https://loristwistedcork.wordpress.com/2011/06/04/girls-night-with-chateau-montelena-2/

Between the two of us, we have done the “Good the Bad & the Ugly”.

Cheers, Y’all!