Back in 2012 this winery was sold to Accolade wines, a big wine group from Australia. They wanted a foothold in this part of California, and a label that people recognized. The entry level Cabernet used to be made entirely from Alexander Valley fruit, could be cellared up to 8 years, and was a great value for about $17.00 per bottle.
This vintage has some fruit from Alexander Valley, but now includes other locations from around California. I'm guessing some of the purchase contracts for grapes didn't go with the sale of the label.
While the nose still has some of the Alexander Valley notes ( blackberry, herbal, spice) there are other more generic Cabernet notes (cherry, plum, ) included.
The palate tastes of cherry, plum, vanilla, and is more like a basic Cab from the Sonoma area. The mouthfeel is okay, nothing special and finishes quickly.
I happened to be looking thru the pricebuster list on the NH website, and noticed next to the Geyser Peak name it was on sale for $7.99 (half price) at this price it's a pretty good deal for an everyday bottle of wine, and better than most at that dollar amount.
I wouldn't pay the normal retail of $16.00 per bottle for this wine, but this sort of thing happens a lot when a big corporation buys wineries. The bean counters focus is more on quantity than quality....
Cheers,
Ed
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