2008 Rodney Strong Cabernet - Merry Christmas to us!

Here is a Happy Holiday Wish to everyone from Shannon and myself.  We have had such an amazing time and response to this little time investment of ours.  We really appreciate all the support and feedback.  We hope that the engagement we have started continues in 2012.  We have had a blast!  Here's to trying more wines in the New Year!

For our Christmas Dinner we had the usual Turkey dinner with all the trimmings.  It was a delicious meal and we tried to think of a wine that would be a bit of a treat and yet still not overpower the meal.  Our Brother-In-Law brought a Cline Cellars Cashmere (which is Mourvedre, Syrah, and Grenache) and that was a nice lighter wine that went well with the Turkey.  Once we polished that off we opened our 2008 Rodney Strong Cabernet Sauvignon from Sonoma.

It was quite the treat.  It had a little bit of time to breathe but could have used even more time open.  That said, the mouth feel of this wine is amazing.  It is smokey and silky and really steps up the quality factor at $24.99.  It was very dark and almost thick in its look.  We really enjoyed the smokiness in particular.  There was toasted oak but with a lot of nice fruit in the nose.  The tannins were so soft and the flavours very intense. 

We highly recommend this wine.  Delicious from start to finish.

	Tasting Notes:	Score:
Sight (0-5)	Dark Ruby Red, with a thick feel when swirled in the glass	4.0
Smell (0-5)	Smokey Toasted Oak overtones with Red Fruit (Plum and Cherry)	4.5
Taste (0-10)	Full bodied with vanilla and oak with a silky balanced finished	9.0
	Total:	17.5 / 20  (87.5%)