January 13, 2012 - Lots of fruit. Very forward with fruit, not much on the back
Overall a nice bottle
July 31, 2011 - I'm in the same camp as the other posters....bought two this May and had one last night. Not too spicy and not really fruity, so I guess well balanced is one way to look at it, but it was just ok because of that. Will hold the other for a while just to see what happens.
July 11, 2011 - Ditto to DaveZacK review, and at the QPR(club member price) hard to beat for a balanced delicious cab. I admit to being pleasantly surprised. A great mid week cab! As cabs go, in the full spectrum, 85. Re QPR 89!
March 3, 2011 - Got this bottle from TJ's wine club (when we used to belong) for approximately half the retail price ($28; only $14 to $15 net to us) and drank with grilled ribeye steaks simply seasoned with Kosher salt and a mountain of freshly-cracked pepper.
For the wine club price, this is a fantastic bottle of Cab Sav, which is a blend from five different vineyards in the Paso Robles area. These notes are being written the following morning and this bottle was drunk following a couple bottles of bubbly, so specifics will be sorely lacking.
I don't recall much of a nose, but the flavor profile was wonderful. This is a rich, creamy, beautifully oaked Cab Sav displaying all the usual blackberry, brambly, and cassis fruits. The wine is wonderfully well-balanced, where the black fruits, oak, alcohol content, and finish were just about right. Paso isn't known (generally speaking) for being perfect Cab Sav country, but due to its varried micro climates, there are areas in Paso that ARE producing gorgeous Cab Savs. Toby and Lance obviously got hold of some of that fruit.
For $15-ish, this would be a difficult bottle to beat, especially for a Cab Sav. Have I had more complex and subtle Cabs? Yes, I have. Personally, I prefer less fruit and more earth and spice in my Cab Sav. But if you enjoy fruity, delicious, well-balanced and well-made Cabs, take a stab at this bottle. You won't be disappointed.
December 23, 2010 - Dark cherry, hint of chocolate, smoke, tobacco, black pepper. Moderate tannin and balanced acidity. Excellent with grilled tri-tip.
June 12, 2010 - Whole pallate was a little dull, though admittedly we drank it in a situation where we couldn't give ample time or space for it to open up.
March 27, 2010 - Popped and poured tonight at Stella’s Family Restaurant in Burlington, NJ, and from the get go, this was an over oaked, alcoholic mess. I truly hate to say that as I am usually a huge fan of Tobin James wines, but this one just wasn’t doing it for us tonight. Maybe it was the food, maybe it was just the entire experience, regardless, it wasn’t one of our better Saturday nights in our little food and wine world. Tons of oak and alcohol on the nose, with some jammy red and black berries. Nothing really stood out all that much, and the oak was overwhelming. On the palate, the vanilla from the oak was overwhelming, with some jammy/chewy blackberry and dark raspberry and plum. Secondary hints of mint round out the mid palate, with a finish of more oak and alcohol. This is the first Tobin James wine I have been disappointed with, and I am wondering if these wines just no longer appeal to us. I am going to guess no as we really love their fruit bomb zins and whites, so maybe we just weren’t in the mood for a wine of this style tonight. 80 points. Cheers!
September 22, 2009 - Nose of dust, brambles, and blackberry. Very dark, opaque garnet-purple in color. Big, chewy flavors of blueberry, blackberry, dust, cocoa powder and plum with a hint of eucalyptus. Another big bomb from TJ, very yummy!
May 13, 2009 - PnP and set in glass 30min. Very dark purple with a touch of hazy cranberry at the rim, 95% opaque. Super slow and sticky legs. Powerful nose of black currant, oak, alcohol, a little vanilla and dill. Plum and black cherry fruit on the palate that is quite heavy but the large amount of plush tannins kind of dictate the need for such big body. There are some secondary herbal and licorice notes but the level of alcohol is also distracting and makes me think the fruit was overripe. Pretty typical of TJ, especially for where this lands in the lineup. The Silver Reserve is a much nicer wine imo. (4+11+14+6) = 85
April 27, 2009 - Still tight, but delicious. Really opens up after 20-30 minutes.