Like most California cabs, the nose on this is big and ripe, so you get a lot of red and black fruit. But it’s not overripe and thus sweet, and the alcohol doesn’t shoot straight up your nostrils like a scared mouse might (a modest 13.5% here).

For all the fruit on the nose, the high amounts of it on the palate are balanced by oak (you were expecting that) and mineral-laden earth (oooh, that’s refreshing!). It all works together very nicely, like a house that isn’t overtaken by its great room. This open floor plan is inviting and very comfortable, with all the different rooms very well integrated.

You could wait a couple years to move in if you wanted, but I think it’s a great find right now. Just open the windows and let it breathe for a while before really going inside.

Happy New Year,
TSW

P.S. - Ravenswood is famous for its zinfandels. (And for the coolest logo in the wine business. How many wine lovers and frat boys have logos of other wineries tattooed on their persons?) But don’t let all the zin-given attention allow you to ignore Ravenswood’s cabs. They’re no stranger to this king grape of California. If all the attention on pinot noir lately has had you off Napa and Sonoma cabernet, welcome back. 2002 is a fine place to dive back in!

WoW
…really excited about wine

In California people are looking for a correction. All across the state things have gone too high – completely unrealistic, really – and need to be brought back down to levels we mere mortals can handle.

What’s that? The prices of houses, you say? Oh yeah, houses in Cali are really expensive, too. But I’m talking about high the alcohol levels in wine. They’re ridiculous!

I think in 2006 we may see such a correction, where more wines come down from their stratospheric 15.5% (and higher!) alcohol levels. We’ve already seen the beginnings of this reduction in some wines, but many California reds still have alcohol ranges like the prices of McMansions that have sprouted up: simply too high for what you get.

Here’s your version of a modest 3 bed/2 bath that charms the pants off you with all its style and surprising expanse, and then floors you with a reasonable price.