Wine Review - 2009 Paso Creek Cabernet Sauvignon: They Said It Was Bold And They Meant It
We were provided this wine which retails for $20 locally. This Cab from Paso Creek touts itself as being a 'Bold' wine and we can say without reservation that they are right. We almost could have mistaken this wine for a Zinfandel it had that kind of body and weight.
When we poured the wine into the decanter we hardly took notice of the colour, but when we went from decanter to glass.....wow. This wine is dark, black as your hat, dark. It has a very deep purple hue that is reminiscent of Malbec or something like that. Can't see through it at all. Really interesting colour. They say on the bottle that the Paso Robles AVA in California has the widest temperature swings in the state which cause small clusters of tiny concentrated fruit. We can certainly believe that if they are getting this type of intensity in their wines.
The nose is dark stewed fruit with a lot of vanilla layered in there. There is also fresh anise undertone to the wine which when combined with a mouthful turns into a cocoa scent. There is a spiciness or herbal quality to the smells in the glass that we had trouble putting into adjectives (nutmeg maybe?). Bottom line it is super intense.
The palate is no less complicated. There is a plum fruit component that is also layered in with a dark chocolate and more spiciness. It is bold for sure and this wine is very dry. There is not a lot of residual sugar built into this wine. It is not an alcohol-y hot wine for sure at 13.5% alcohol but it is spicy hot wine. Call it capsicum or cayenne but there is a peppery quality that adds to the boldness.
We really like this wine. This is a red wine for red wine drinkers. This is not a wine to introduce your white wine drinking friends to red wine. It might cause their faces to melt off and we don't want that. This is also a steak wine for sure and would generally make for a good food wine.
When we poured the wine into the decanter we hardly took notice of the colour, but when we went from decanter to glass.....wow. This wine is dark, black as your hat, dark. It has a very deep purple hue that is reminiscent of Malbec or something like that. Can't see through it at all. Really interesting colour. They say on the bottle that the Paso Robles AVA in California has the widest temperature swings in the state which cause small clusters of tiny concentrated fruit. We can certainly believe that if they are getting this type of intensity in their wines.
The nose is dark stewed fruit with a lot of vanilla layered in there. There is also fresh anise undertone to the wine which when combined with a mouthful turns into a cocoa scent. There is a spiciness or herbal quality to the smells in the glass that we had trouble putting into adjectives (nutmeg maybe?). Bottom line it is super intense.
The palate is no less complicated. There is a plum fruit component that is also layered in with a dark chocolate and more spiciness. It is bold for sure and this wine is very dry. There is not a lot of residual sugar built into this wine. It is not an alcohol-y hot wine for sure at 13.5% alcohol but it is spicy hot wine. Call it capsicum or cayenne but there is a peppery quality that adds to the boldness.
We really like this wine. This is a red wine for red wine drinkers. This is not a wine to introduce your white wine drinking friends to red wine. It might cause their faces to melt off and we don't want that. This is also a steak wine for sure and would generally make for a good food wine.
| Tasting Notes: | Score: | |
| Sight (0-5) | Super dark wine, black dark, can't see through it. | 4.5 |
| Smell (0-5) | Bold nose with stewed fruit compote with vanilla, dark chocolate mole and herbaceousness. Bold! | 4.25 |
| Taste (0-10) | Very dry and spicy red wine with good intense dark fruit structure and fairly well balanced. Bold! | 8.25 |
| Total: | 17.0 / 20 (85%) |
This is a style of wine that never gets old for us. Big and bold, fruit and intense. It makes for a heck of a tasting experience. To our American friends, you can probably buy this for close to $15 bucks so do us a favour and buy a lot. It will make us feel better....
Keep on tasting!
Chris & Shannon
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