Tonight’s Occasion: 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon by Windwalker, El Dorado, CA
Dark opaque color. Out of the bottle nose is a little shy but there is an unmistakable honeysuckle and beeswax essence. As it opens up, the nose fills up, thickens into a melange of lemon zest, tangerine, ripe, red berries, and a sharp star anise, it’s sense of place, a hallmark of the Sierra Foothills. Pine, cedar-wood and dusty granite linger in the background. This wine is ripe!
Body is nicely balanced up front. It is slightly fruit forward but nowhere near as much as the nose would suggest. A mild acidic attack quickly hands off to a bold spice heat that intensifies through the body. Ripe plums and Dark cherries add a thick chassis of soft tannins. Oak accentuates the berry and citrus notes nicely. Transition to finish is seamless as the body slowly soaks into the palate leaving behind a slightly moist lips, a fine grained, dusty tannic grit a warm but firm heat. Faint notes of cocoa and caramel linger. This is how this wine was meant to be enjoyed.
There’s endless ways to make a wine. What I find interesting about this winemaker is their willingness to embrace what is most characteristic of this region – hang time. They have a longer ripening season which yields higher sugar, and more intense flavor profiles. At 13.9% ABV it is fairly restrained for this region but the flavors are intense. At 13 years of age, it has had time to integrate very nicely. This is a beautiful wine.
Wine Snob 