I've just opened a bottle of this to have with dinner tonight. It was a Christmas gift brought back from the US. I hope the flight has not affected it too much.
The 'tasting notes' (sales copy) claims:
"Notes of sweet plums and pepper dominate the nose while flavors of blueberry, raspberry, cinnamon, and black pepper pack the palate from start to finish. The silky-smooth tannins hold the wine together and deliver a soft, fruit-driven experience."
That's overselling it in my view. The reality, as so often, has elements of the above, but not all of them.
One definitely picks up the plums, raspberry and a hint of black pepper. The tannins are smooth, in that they are not really there :). But in my experience (which is very limited), that's par for the course with many of the younger wines from the USA.
The wine seems to retail around $10-16 a bottle. And at that price, I'd say it's worth drinking.
There's enough depth and length to push it miles ahead of the usual Gallo brothers stuff one finds in this price range.
I know I'm not sounding overly enthusiastic. I should say, despite the silly name, it's got enough about it at the price to beat most other competitors if you are looking for something strong and smooth.
I still believe Mouton Cadet '08 to be a better, more finessed bet as a mainstream wine in the same price range, but for a reasonable American night in (hard to do given the over pricing of US wine), this is worth exploring, if the notes suits your tastes.
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