varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon

Country of Origin: United States

Appellation: Alexander Valley

Retail Price: $42.99

Tasting Notes: Blue Rock is an all-estate-produced winery located in Sonoma’s Alexander Valley. The 2017 vintage was absolutely stunning with excellent depth and concentration. The winery is focused on showing the quality of terroir and offering balanced wines that reflect the soil. Blue Rock shows dark purple color with medium intensity. The palate offers voluptuous flavors of blueberry and black cherry that sink into a plush core of currant. The wine is silky smooth and bright with complex notes of cedar, vanilla and baking spices on the mid-palate. The finish is rocking with blackberry cobbler and cigar box wrapped into a velvet finish. Layered and lively.

Country of Origin: United States

Appellation: Napa Valley

Retail Price: $44.99

Tasting Notes: Winemaker to the stars Kirk Venge molded this Napa wine and showed his handprint throughout. The 2018 vintage has produced full, meaty wines with quite an abundance of fruit and flavor. This 100% cabernet sauvignon has combined mountain fruit with the finesse of Oakville and Rutherford. Thick hedonistic flavors of blackberry and cassis sink deftly into silky tannins and a creamy core. The mid-palate offers loads of currant, dark chocolate and hazelnut with smidgeons of sandalwood. The finish is dangerously smooth, with toasted cedar and vanilla from new and used French barrels and a long, lingering mouthfeel that offers a whiff of tobacco pipe. Janzen is a cabernet that you open when you really want to impress your guest. TLC (Texutured, Layered, Complex).

Country of Origin: United States

Appellation: Central Coast

Retail Price: $19.99

Tasting Notes: Dense black fruit and fresh plum on the nose lead to a structurally sound palate that has nicely integrated tannins and a hint of cocoa and chocolate on the finish.

Country of Origin: United States

Appellation: Napa

Retail Price: $19.99

Tasting Notes: A keen balance of red and blue fruits that jump from the glass to the palate. All the blueberry and raspberry flavors are made more elegant by soft tannins that lightly grip just enough to show off the flavor intensity.

Country of Origin: United States

Appellation: Columbia Valley

Retail Price: $15.00

Tasting Notes: Exceptionally dark, bright ruby in the glass. On the nose, and in the mouth, the wine exhibits substantial quantities of black fruit, with dark herbal notes, and spice. It has excellent weight, with balancing acidity. The lengthy finish confirms the quality. A true bargain.