Santa Carolina Cabernet Sauvignon – Weekly Winedown #44

It seems like winter is well and truly here.
Storm Ali has been swiftly followed by Storm Bronagh and, whilst we’re lucky enough to not be suffering any damage right here, it has played merry hell with my hair.
Lifting it up, blowing it all about and such like. Anyway.

Last weeks Blog On weekend was blooming brilliant, I met up with friends, drank gin and listened to lots of knowledgeable people talk.
I returned home super inspired! Unfortunately I was also pretty tired, given my old age it seems it now takes me DAYS to get over fun and so, my to do list remains lengthy.

You don’t need to know that though. You need to know that this week we are going to partake in a Chilean red, say HOLA…

Santa Carolina Cabernet Sauvignon

I chose this because it was on offer at £5.99, there was actually little else that screamed out to me on this occasion. The label is, well, simple. It’s white, red and black – the most excellent of colour schemes. A very clean label, with easy to read font and just fact on the front.
That’s what I want in a label, not all the noise like on the Starve Dog Lane last week, you can read about that here.

The Blurb

“A ripe full bodied wine with concentrated blackcurrant fruit flavour, dark chocolate notes on the long velvety finish. This wine is a great match with grilled steak, roasted lamb and tomato based pasta dishes.”

I do get excited when chocolate is thrown into the description, it NEVER tastes of chocolate but is often a good winter wine. We’ll see!

 

Well, the ‘nose’ is fruity and slightly smokey, not entirely unpleasant. In fact it’s a smell that makes me very excited to try the wine.
The taste does not match the smell, I was expecting something really dry and full bodied. This was light and fruity – almost sweet and a touch oaky. Not quite Pinot Noir but a lot lighter than I expect or want a Cabernet Sauvignon to be!
It’s also a bit thin. I don’t like thin wine.
My bouche is most certainly not amused this evening.
Even at the special offer price, I probably wouldn’t bother if I were you. There are plenty of better wines for the same price.

Name – Santa Carolina Cabernet Sauvignon
Price – £5.99 (usually £8.99)
Colour – A rich red.
Smell – Light and fruity
Taste – Fruity blackcurrant and a little woody (snort laugh)
Goes well with – Despair and chocolate after being dumped.
Overall score – 2.5/5