Cabernet Sauvingon is the wine I usually turn to in the freezing depths of Nebraska winter. To me, it’s warm, dark, and tannic. And depending on the type, sometimes spicy like a Syrah.
I corked a 2009 Chuck’s Cabernet last night over a huge plate of shepherd’s pie – what better way to stave off the cold? The shepherd’s pie was excellent, but I don’t think the two-buck-chuck held up its end very well.
Instead of a rich tannic wine, this Cabernet tends to sit high on the tongue. It has a sharp, floral, grassy tang remarkably similar to the Nouveau. It’s bright and bitter, but it does have that nice tannic tang which a cab should have.
Much like the Nouveau, this is not a bad wine by any means. It has a scaffold of the classic cab flavor profile, but it comes off as young and underdeveloped. It seems to me that age would treat this rather well. All things told, I enjoyed it for what it was but it doesn’t sate my appetite for a dark, spicy, tannic, winter wine.
January 5th, 2011 at 9:18 pm
[...] the other Charles Shaw wines I’ve tasted (Nouveau and the Cabernet), I’m unable to recommend the Chardonnay. It’s not downright offensive, really, but [...]
January 10th, 2011 at 9:42 pm
I haven’t tried this wine in a long time. I used to tolerate it and the Merlot. Might have to try it again on a cold evening. How does it compare to something like Frontera?
January 10th, 2011 at 11:09 pm
I’ll have to check! Budget wines are a favorite of mine. They say life is too short to drink cheap booze, but my paycheck is not fat enough to always drink expensive stuff.
January 13th, 2011 at 9:48 pm
[...] had yet. I didn’t like the Charles Shaw Chardonnay, and the other two I’ve tried (Cabernet Sauvignon and Nouveau) were tolerable, but had sharp grassy tones which I wasn’t a fan of. I still [...]
January 14th, 2011 at 8:48 am
[...] picked up a few other Charles Shaw flavors: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Shiraz, and their Chardonnay, and I’ll probably write about them in the [...]
April 5th, 2012 at 7:06 am
[...] the Shiraz was the best. You can read the previous reviews here: Nouveau, Shiraz, Chardonnay, and Cabernet. Share this:MoreLike this:LikeBe the first to like this post. This entry was posted on Thursday, [...]