Our winner for the second consecutive year was the 2004 Sebastiani “Alexander Valley” $32 Cabernet! Last year the 2003 won this event. Congrats go out to the winemaker, Mark Lyon, on his second consecutive victory. This wine finished with a very impressive score of 91.56.
We tried 21 Cabernets in all. We recommended three Cabs as “Very Good +” including the Sebastiani. Seven additional Cabs were also recommended as “Very Good“. So ten out of out of 21made the cut. Four Cabs qualified as Good, but we only recommend “Very Good” wines. Seven other wines “failed” to qualify as Good.
In second place with a score of 90.38 was the 2004 Merriam “Block 21” $35 from Dry Creek.The panel felt this was a terrific porterhouse steak wine. This wine is also cellar worthy. It will not be released until February 2008, so you have an opportunity to get in line to buy it. In third place was the Bravante 2003 “Howell Mountain” $34 Cabernet. This terrific wine finished with a score of 90.13. This small winery has been making some very good wine lately. You should also check out their red blend, the “2004 Trio”.
The rest of the wines were all “Very Good” and definitely recommended. These wines stood out as distinctively better than their competition.
The best value wine came in fourth place. This value wine was the 2005 Blackstone California $9. This wine is a great bargain. We added it to our practical party case on the website and you should stock up with some if you are having some big holiday parties. Another fine value was the 2004 Dry Creek Vineyards Cabernet for $22. This wine has some complexity and is another good value. It would pair nicely with grilled steak.
Also in the money were two wines from the Finger Lakes. Our recent trip out there proved that 2005 was a really nice year for red wines from that region. Under the foil this proved to be true again. Standing Stone submitted a 2005 Reserve Cabernet $28 that finished in fifth place with a score of 88.31 and the Standing Stone 2005 “Pinnacle” $21 which is a Cab based red blend wine that finished in 10th place. Like the Merriam, these wines were sneak peaks and will be released this winter.
Other wines that made the cut were as follows:
#7 Raymond “Reserve” 2004 (Napa Valley, CA) $35 (87.25)
#8 Michael & David 2003 “Earthquake” (Lodi, CA) $28 (87.63)
#9 Marquee 2003 “Signature” (Langhorne Creek, Aust) $20 (87.63)
As you can see most of the best Cabernets cost over $20. The Blackstone was the exception. The four wines that qualified as Good were in the $8 to $15 range. If you are looking for a “Very Good” Cabernet it appears that you might have to spend more than $20 to reach this goal.
Next month we cover “Miscellaneous White” wines and it should be real fun. I look forward to sharing the results with you.