3 Cabs, 2 Regions, 1 Year

How’s this for fun? I went to a friend’s house for a dinner party and decided to bring over two 2006 Cabernet Sauvignons, a Lewelling and Ramey. After seeing the bottles I brought over, my friend pulled out a 2006 Don Melchor Cabernet Sauvignon from her stash. BAM! We had an impromptu, and what the business calls, a Horizontal Wine Tasting. We tried 3 different cabs from 2 different regions all from the same year.

The first bottle we opened, Lewelling (97% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Cabernet Franc) was a marriage of dark berries, black cherries, exotic spice, earth and tobacco flavors. The tannins were velvety and the finish was long. We then tasted the second bottle, Ramey (91% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Cabernet Franc, 4% Petit Verdot, 2% Malbec). This stood up strong with notes of prunes, dried figs, currants and oak. It was a deliciously well-rounded wine. Finally we got to our third bottle, Don Melchor (100% Cabernet Sauvignon), with bold flavors of dark chocolate, tobacco, leather and cedar. It was a rather voluptuous wine. We were all very impressed with each wine’s characteristics. Although we had different favorites, we really enjoyed them all immensely.

You don’t have to go to a formal wine tasting, just have one at your dining room table. Invite some friends and have them bring a bottle fitting your theme. It can be as simple as Pinot Noirs from around the globe to different grapes from the same region, or something like what I just did, with a specific year. However you do it, have some fun with friends and hopefully you’ll learn a little something new along the way.

Sláinte! TCW