CHEAP Cabernet tasting

We have internet again... sorry for the sabbatical.

So it's my first post back and I'm on a mission... I want to start giving you some wines to look for and wines to look OUT for (in other words they may be bad wines masquerading as good buys).

Wine #1

Label/Producer: David Stone

Varietal (grape): Cabernet Sauvignon

Price: Purchased at Walgreens normally $5.99 on sale for $5.00

Vintage: None (that should have tipped me off right there)

Alcohol Content: 12%

My wine tasting notes:

• Nose - Cherry and currents, slightly grassy
• Mouth - fruit forward, light and earthy notes, with an extremely stringent aftertaste.
• Food Pairings:

1. mild cheddar - the saltiness of the cheddar brought out the fruit and mellowed out the acidity, however, the lightness of the wine and the thick coating of cheese on the tongue also created a metallic aftertaste.

2. navel orange - the juiciness of the orange drowned out all the fruitiness of the wine, but the acidity of the orange defeated the overly-acidic finish of the wine and surprisingly made it more palatable.

3. dark chocolate - the sweetness and creaminess of the dark chocolate brought out ever imperfection of the wine, leaving you with only the metallic aftertaste and stringent finish. However, the bitterness of the dark chocolate brought the cherry notes even more forward than they were in the beginning.

Conclusion/Scoring:

My score for this wine is 1 and 1/2 stars out of 5. I would never buy this wine again because of how stringent and acidic it was. Traditionally Cabernets should be heavy, bold, and well balanced with tannins. However this wine was as light and fruit forward as grape juice but without the boldness and oakiness of a traditional Cab. Finally I felt this cab was so acidic that it hurt my stomach. For being $5-$6 wine, it delivered the quality of a $2-$3 wine.

The next time you're at the drug store and tempted to reach for the cheap and on sale David Stone Cabernet Sauvignon- spring the extra $4 for a fantastic Meritage or just invest the extra gas and time to run up the road to your local TJs or Aldi and stick with the under $3 Winking Owl or Charles Shaw, both vastly superior and cheaper.