Meet Cabernet Sauvignon - Team Captain

When I think about Cabernet Sauvignon, I think about the jock. The guy who played three sports and was six feet tall with a great body and a handsome face with chiseled features. He probably rocked the gridiron, as well as either baseball or soccer, and he was on the wrestling team. He was captain of all of them. He is grown up now but he still has that winning smile that captured the attention of almost every girl in school (and some boys).

As a member of those teams, and as a top sales manager in his firm today, he relies heavily upon his teammates for success – Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot are usually his MVPs. But he can definitely hold his own with little or no help. He’s a strong character, but he gets along with everyone – he is well liked. Nonetheless, he doesn’t bend to anyone’s whim. He is who he is no matter what playing field (wine region), or what combination of teammates (blend), or what coaching (winemaking) style. Cabernet is always reliably Cabernet.

When buying Cabernet Sauvignon you can start with these two benchmarks:
Bordeaux from the Left Bank that are blends in which Cabernet is usually the main ingredient and the strongest character
California (particularly Napa Valley) varietally labeled Cabernet

If you are intrigued by wines and foods that have great balance and acidity and are not overtly fruity, Bordeaux is a good way to go. You can find pretty decent Left Bank Bordeaux, particularly Bordeaux Superieur, between US$10-$20 that will suit your taste. If you’re feeling special, look for wines labeled Première Côtes de Bordeaux, Pomerol, Haut-Medoc, Grand Cru and Grand Cru Classé. You will spend more money but in most cases, you do get more for your dollar out of those bottles. They are usually a bit fuller bodied with more layers of interesting flavors.

If you prefer wines and foods that are very flavorful and rich, especially if you are an unabashed lover of meat, then Napa Valley Cabernet should make you happy. You can find good Napa Cab starting around $15. Below that, you may see Cabernet simply labeled as “California” which means the grapes came from various unspecified regions in that great big state. I can’t vouch for these as suitable substitutes. Go for Napa. In general the more expensive the Napa Cab, the bigger a wine it will be on your palate. A couple of C-notes will score you a linebacker!

Nonetheless, there is Cabernet Sauvignon coming out of every corner of this great wine world! And the truth is most of it, even if it is labeled Cabernet Sauvignon, is blended. Cabernet tends to have trouble filling your palate by itself, so he usually teams up with Merlot to fill out the center for you with yummy berry fruit. (in the US a wine can be labeled varietally as long as it contains at least 75% of that grape variety, so Napa Cabernet can contain up to 25% Merlot or other varieties) But he is usually the backbone of a blend, the go-to guy.

Your homework for this week is to try 5 Cabernet Sauvignons. You should have one Napa Cabernet, one Bordeaux from the Left Bank, and three others from totally different places - South Africa, Argentina, New York, Italy, Texas, New Zealand - and tweet your notes to @wineLIFE_ #CabSauvHW. Tell us which one was ur fave (please include the wine’s name, vintage and region), how much u paid for it and its best qualities. You can also post notes on the wineLIFE Facebook wall. We would love to keep up with what you are drinking!!

What if wine is allowed into New York Supermarkets?

A fellow Women for WineSense member recently updated her Facebook status to "is glad she does not own a liquor store in New York State."  She directed you to www.lastmainstreetstore.com to sign a petition to oppose the legalization of wine in grocery stores.   

Last Store on Main Street, a group of liquor and wine retailers, argue that jobs will be lost because liquor stores will be forced to close and that teenagers will have more access to alcohol.  

New York's industry is made up of two types of alcohol retailer - the liquor store and the wine shop (though they are all classified as liquor stores by the SLA).  A lot of these used the strategy of opening up near a supermarket, so as to create a symbiotic business relationship.  At this point, they can 

a. canibalize themselves - the supermarket can pick up wine to compete with the liquor store 

or 

b. continue the symbiosis - The two stores can balance their product offerings to compliment eachother.   

Alternatively, there are wine shops, who carry wines from smaller producers that don't get representation in large supermarkets because they do not produce enough to supply the Costcos and Trader Joe's sized markets.  These, and the ones that are not near supermarkets, but instead have a small grocer close by.  The inherent symbiosis is that large supermarkets don't want to deal with small production wines, just as smaller grocers won't choose to tie up more money in inventory and overcoming a learning curve.  

OK, I admit it,  I relish the thought of  wine shops selling food!  The kinds of people who own wine shops can put the same attention into fine cheeses, charcurerie, chocolates preserves as we do into selecting fine wines from small producers.  That means more business for small, local cheese makers, farmers and artisan chefs and small wine companies.  We'll probably leave the produce, milk and eggs in the grocery's hands - why would we want to get into that? 

My local grocer, Charmar Superette, boasts an impressive selection of beers, fresh bread every day and a pretty decent deli case.  It's great having a market like that in the neighborhood complimented by a wine shop that has possibly a few more expensive artisan cheeses and boutique chocolates.  

And as for teenagers having more access to wine through supermarkets, thereby increasing the posibility of teen drunk driving?  Like Murray asked Bret "What's your reasoning?"  The law is clear: we card anyone who looks younger than 21.  

All I'm saying is, this could actually be a good thing for all retailers, distributors large and small, and most importantly, customers and neighborhoods.  

Where do you stand? Take my poll!  I will share this post and the results of the poll with selected elected officials.  They should know what the people think.  

Deuces