Cabernet Recommendation

[antonijan]

I'm a newbie wine drinker and looking for recommendations.

A glass of wine a day is supposed to be good for the health but I cannot stand the taste of wine until I accidentally tried Sutter Home Cabernet Sauvignon. This wine is $5 per glass and $20 per bottle at a restaurant but it is only $3 at the store

My friend ordered this during happy hour and I immediately fell in love with the mild and suave flavor of Sutter Home CS. It is even better aerated.

What is your favorite wine and what Cabernet Sauvignon do you recommend?

Ill make sure to order the reds on intermission next time.
 

[dramamama611]

I've become fond of Yellowtale, an Australian brand. 10 bucks or less.

[AEA AGMA SM]

I do most of my wine shopping at Trader Joe's these days. The Charles Shaw wines (affectionately known as $3 Chuck) are quite good for a wine with such a low price point and perfectly serviceable for a glass of wine at home or to use in your cooking wine. They also have a good variety of wines at numerous price points, and plenty of very good bottles for under $10.

My go to red varietal is either a Shiraz or Pinot Noir.

I also say that if you don't go through a bottle very quickly, don't be afraid of brands with screw top caps. As cork becomes rarer and more expensive a lot of vineyards are finding that the screw tops offer better protection than the synthetic corks.

[PalJoey]

There's a great movie from 2008 called "Bottle Shock," with Alan Hickman and Chris Pine and Rachael Taylor and Bill Pullman, about the blind test for the best Cabernet and the shocking win of a California Cab over out the French wines. That movie is a lot of fun and best watched with a bottle of good but inexpensive French Cab AND a bottle of good but inexpensive California Cab. Pour yourself a glass of each and sip as you watch the movie. By the end, you'll be an expert.

To vastly simplify (because there are always differences between years, regions, vineyards, soil, weather, etc.), the California wine counties (Napa, Sonoma) are more desert-like than the regions in France that grow the best Cabernet Sauvignons, Both regions have the hot days and cooler nights that make the grapes grow rich and flavorful, but because Napa and Sonoma are hotter during the days, the same Sauvignon grapes ripen differently. The extra sun gives Napa's Cabernet higher alcohol, higher tannins, and rich ripe flavors that taste "fruitier" than  the same grapes grown in Bordeaux. This is why French Cabernets are more restrained, while Napa Cabernets are described by enthusiasts as "fruit bombs."

Personally, I prefer the subtlety of the French Cabs and the Sonoma Cabs to the more robust Napa Cabs--but again, that a gross generalization.

[jbird5]

It’s not an annual event, it was a one off organized by Steve Spurrier to highlight California wines which at the time weren’t considered a serious player in the market. Even he didn’t expect the result though. It’s been repeated several times since with varying results. Ironically, it turned out to be good for French wine as they had to up their quality which had suffered from lack of competition.

The red wines from France are mainly “First Growths “ from the Medoc which cost $1000+ a bottle. The California wines are now in the $100s although I think Clos du Val is around $30. Ironically (again) California wines have an advantage when young due to their greater ripeness and less variation in climate. Although, this is changing due to global warming.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judgment_of_Paris_(wine)