2017 Aerena Cabernet Sauvignon Red Hills Lake County CA
I have had great luck in the last year or so with red wines from Lake County in California, they have offered surprisingly good value for the money. Currently they are not on most people's radar for wines from this Country, what you generally see in stores is from Napa or Sonoma, and wines from the Pacific northwest.
It was with anticipation that I put a bottle of this in my cart to take home, but when I first opened it last night I was not so sure I'd made a good choice. It was closed on the nose and palate, tart, out of sorts.... I tried part of another glass that I put through an aerator, and let sit for 20 minutes. Definitely better but still seemed off, so I put the cork back in it and put it on the counter for today.
This wine is made from grapes farmed at about 2400' in the Red Hills area of Lake County, grapes grown that high tend to be smaller with thicker skins, which means more tannins in the wine, which means you have to be patient and let the wines sleep for 8 to 12 years to soften the those tannins.
Today the nose has notes of black cherry, red plum, a hint of strawberry, and black raspberries. The palate has the same flavors but the plum and a hint of blueberries are more prominent. The finish is still a bit tart, but in a good way... the tannins are medium in intensity, but fine grained and fade gently on the finish.
This wine is still quite young, and has the structure to age for at least 5 more years based on the progress from yesterday to today. Right now I'd give it at least an hour in the decanter, and pair it with food that has some fat to it. A good steak with ample marbling, an oven roasted chicken dinner, slow cooked ribs with a good bbq sauce, a good pulled pork sandwich, the carnivore pizza from Ziggy's in West Lebanon.
Available at almost all of NH's Liquor outlets for $14.99 per bottle, $11 bucks off it's list price. For me it's an experiment, I think it will improve over the next 5 years so I'll lay 6 down in the cellar and pull one out in 2 years to see where it's at.
Let me know what you think....
Cheers!
Ed
