2007 Educated Guess Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Hello!! This was a lovely wine that we had the other night with black and blue salads. It was a little big for the salad, but not a bad pairing. It was a very delicious sipping wine, that really needs no help from food.

It had a deep inky color that was purple at the rim. The nose was dark cherry with vanilla, woodsy oak, and a little bit of licorice. The aromas blended and mellowed nicely as the wine opened. On the palate there was black cherry and vanilla. It was very smooth and even across the entire palate. This wine was just plain delicious! I went back today to get another bottle. Ibelieve this wine sells for $19.99 at Campbell Station Wine and Spirits for this wine. I understand that this wine will be featured at the next tasting on the second Tuesday of December.

2005 Columbia Crest Walter Clore Private Reserve Red Wine

Hello!! This is one of my all time favorite wines. I actually got this by mistake when I was trying to order a Columbia Crest award winning cabernet on-line. This wine is a cabernet blend and is produced using traditional bordeaux techniques. The flavor profile will sound similar to other wines I've described, but the difference is that this wine is sooooo smooth, silky and balanced! It's elegant. It had a very nice dark garnet color. On the nose there was bright dark cherry, blackberry and blueberry with a little fennel (celery and licorice). It had a rather strong oakiness on the nose when it was first opened, but this dissipated after 20 or 30 minutes, leaving a little vanilla behind. The flavor was very much like the nose with fruit on the early to mid palate and the spicy fennel and vanilla on the end. There were also subtle undertones of leather and pipe tobacco. The finish was extended and very pleasant. This was very delicious, complex and so balanced and silky. I don't drink a lot of domestic wine, but I would if it were more like this! Also, I didn't pay all that much for this wine. We rarely drink anything over $30, and this is no exception. I think I paid $90 to $95 for 3 bottles of this with tax and shipping, so it must have been about $27 a bottle? I wanted to order more, but it was all gone. Alas, this was our last bottle. We had this with black and blue steaks, baked potato and salad. It was a very good pairing, but the steaks could have been less peppery, to really compliment the wine. I purchased this wine through J.J. Buckley. They are in California, and they do ship to Tennessee.