Cabernet Sauvignon - What's In A Price Point? (Blind Tasting)

Blind tasting of 5 cabernets, after progressing through 2 learning modules downloaded from wine spectator. All bottles purchased from Costco, with the exception of the lowest price point (purchased from Zipp's). Bottles cost $6.50, $11, $17, $27, and $46. Goal was to rank bottles according to price after carefully considering color, color intensity, aroma complexity, aroma intensity, taste complexity, and length/complexity of finish.

Wines labeled A-E in blind tasting. Wine A - Honig... Wine E - Don Patrick

• 2008 Honig Cabernet Sauvignon 87 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Color: Dark Purple (Most intense wine in tasting)
  Strong aromas of blackberries, vanilla, oak, with a hint of chocolate
  Moderate-high acidity, tannins, and body. Medium flavor intensity.
  The wine was somewhat balanced at this point -- very tightly wound. This wine needs time for the tannins to decrease, and hopefully the higher acidity won't overpower the wine. The group was split on this wine - some enjoyed the focused structure, and others couldn't get past the relatively high acidity and tannins.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2010 Crow Canyon Cabernet Sauvignon 72 Points

  USA, California

  Color: Pale Red (noticeably lighter than all other wines in tasting)
  Faint aromas of plum and currant.
  Watery flavors of cherry and plum -- did not taste like cabernet, more like merlot.
  Low tannins and incredibly high acidity, which was the dominant feature of this wine. The finish was still dominated by the acidity. Overall a noticeably unbalanced wine.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2008 Cade Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Cuvée 92 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Color: Dark Purple (2nd most intense in tasting)
  Aromas: Powerful aromas of plum, berries, anise, and oak
  Flavors: Berries, cassis, anise, mint, oak (most intense in tasting)
  Acidity: Light/medium, and in excellent balance with the moderately high acidity and medium body.
  Finish: Moderately long with a good deal of complexity.
  Hands down the favorite of the tasting, this wine is great to drink now, but should also improve with age.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2008 Simi Cabernet Sauvignon Alexander Valley 87 Points

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Alexander Valley

  Purple color, with a moderate intensity
  Faint aromas of tree fruit, tobacco, and earth
  The taste was of moderate complexity, with relatively light acidity and body, and high tannins.
  The finish was short and simple, but the wine did show good balance.
  Definitely a lighter cabernet, and not much here to bring us back for a second glass, but a decent sipper.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2009 Don Patrick Cabernet Sauvignon 86 Points

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Knights Valley

  Medium purple color
  Faint aromas of cherry and berries.
  Medium to full-bodied, with moderate acidity and tannins.
  Moderate length finish with almost no complexity.
  Overall a solid easy drinking wine which lacks complexity.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

Based on color, color intensity, aroma intensity and complexity; the wines clearly separated into 3 groups - Crow Canyon was light with faint aromas, Simi & Don Patrick possessed additional intensity with slightly stronger aromas, and Honig and Cade had the strongest color intensity and aromas.
The flavor intensity/complexity and finish for most of the wines followed the color/aroma rankings, with a few exceptions. The Don Patrick was relatively simple, but showed quite well. The Honig was the group love it/hate it, probably due to its tightly wound structure.
Overall we did quite well ranking the wines according to price.