In tough economic times, one can look for bargains in all different forms. Traditionally, I tend to look towards South America for great values in Cabernet Sauvignon, especially those from Chile. While I’ve found a few from Argentina that I like, I still prefer their Malbecs and Malbec cored blends for the best values. Chilean wines tend to have these nice old whiskey barrel and black soil notes to balance the fruit, putting them largely with one foot in each of the “world” styles of wine. You can also be sure to find tremendous values in the Côtes du Rhône of 2007, which will provide outstanding drinking now and over the next few years. I’m also noticing that 2007 California Cabernet will be offering a lot of values, both inside and outside Napa Valley.

2007 Angels Landing Stags Leap District Cabernet Sauvignon

When you heard the word value, the meaning will vary for each of us. I used to have one customer who wanted some “daily drinkers” and when I asked what price range he wanted to stay in, he said around $40 or $50. He was tired of his wife and her friends raiding the cellar and draining his Opus One, Caymus and Silver Oak stashes. Tough life huh?

For others, it means under a certain price point, say $20, $15 or $10. These wines don’t have to outperform or taste expensive, they should just be good and deliver a pleasant experience. Take the 2008 Redtree Pinot Noir I reviewed earlier in the year. Nothing to get crazy over, but for $6.99, it was a tasty drink that will satisfy most anyone, save the true Pinot snobs or those who just don’t like Kali-Aid styled Pinot Noir.

I found out about this wine via an email from Green’s, only later to find out I’d missed the same wine from another premier wine shop, Tower Wine & Spirits who had the wine in September. Oh well, I still got some. The price for this wine is $19.99 and make sure if you find it, double check it says Stags Leap District. There is another version that is labeled Napa Valley and it sells for $14.99. Just don’t want any confusion, since apparently there was some.

I decanted wine for over 4 1/2 hours. I don’t recommend doing that with this wine, as for me, it drank better in the earlier stages and didn’t need real extensive airing out. The aromas were very explosive, with tons of black currant and succulent bordering on overripe cherry. It had a very pie-filling fruit smell (but in no way artificial or candied) and I really loved that aspect of the wine. As it begins to air out a touch, you get some of the oak derived chocolatey goodness intermixed with some cinammon and clove. Again, it smelled like a berry pie with fall weather spices.

The flavors of were that of liquified black cherries that had been steeped with some French press inducted coconut flakes and espresso grounds. It was smooth and definitely full bodied, with a fair amount of acidity and velvety tannins. This wine was easily better upon opening and lost a bit of stuffing as it opened up, which concerns me a bit for longer term aging. This is a wine I’ll probably re-visit again and if I can find the regular Napa bottling, I’ll definitely get one of each to compare the two.

While I enjoyed the wine, I wasn’t overly impressed enough to go totally ga-ga over it. Was it worth $20? Easily, especially if you like ripe Napa Cabernet, of which I am a fan. It paired well with the simply seasoned bone-in rib-eye steaks and roasted potato dinner.

Both the steaks and potatoes were rubbed in a bit of olive oil and then seasoned with sea salt and fresh ground pepper. Steaks were cooked to order (our guests don’t like them still wiggling like we do) and the potatoes were oven roasted for 25 minutes at 400 degrees. We used the yellow fleshed ready to roast 365 Whole Foods brand, which has come to be a house replacement for french fries.

Back to where I started in terms of value. For some, value means anything under a certain price point. For others, it means you get a much better quality of wine for the price and that is where I’d say this fell a bit short for me. The slightly clipped finish and loss of fruit with extended airing are what kept this from being an outstanding wine. I’d have been disappointed in this at anything above $30, let alone the reputed $50 – $60 this wine commands at the winery or in its regular attire.

I think this wine makes an excellent gift and will impress most fans of Napa juice, just make sure to drink it earlier and enjoy its flamboyant character. Next time, this baby only gets about 30 minutes of decant time, just enough to get it up to temperature, so perhaps that will change my impression.

Final word is this is an above average wine and I’d not hesitate to pick up some more. Oh yeah, forgot to mention there is also a reserve level available for $29.99. I’ve no idea what makes it reserve, though I’m guessing it is specific lots and not any extra barrel aging, though more new oak could also be part of the more premium price.

No haiku today.

Here are some links to other blogger reviews:

• Palate Press review
• Fancy Dinner Friday – There Must Be An Angel
• Wild Cat Wine Cellar
• The Wine Diary

Once again, thank you for stopping by to read what I have to say. Please leave me comments, share with your friends and spread the word. If you have any suggested topics for me to cover, please email me. Have a great Wednesday!