At a recent wine store visit, I was chatting with a representative of a winery from California and I told him that I drank a lot of Chilean Cabs, mostly because they were consistently good value. He said that he went through a phase where he drank many of them, but that he now prefers the California Cabs which are less earthy and organic their Chilean counterparts. I had this conversation in mind when I pulled this wine as our second wine for a Saturday evening dinner with my brother and his wife. (see prior post) The moment I tasted this Cab and contrasted it with our first bottle of a California Cab, I noted a much earthier flavor. Mrs. Vino announces that she likes this one much better. "More flavor." The Wine Spectator rated this at 91 points - exactly the same score as the BV wine from the prior post - but for two wines made from the same grape, scoring the exact same WS rating, they could not have been more different. This wine was much bigger and bolder. I loved them both and thought, "this shows why the point rating can be a useful barometer, but really says very little about the wine. I purchased this wine a little while back and am guessing I paid just under $20 for the bottle. Definitely pick this one up if you see it in that price range. I learned that inviting another couple certainly presents an opportunity for an informal wine tasting where two wines can be tasted. We all had fun with it!
