Wine Review, aka What I'm Drinking Lately

Over the weekend, I attended a post-traditional-Vietnamese-wedding-BBQ, where we were told to bring a couple bottles of wine to the party, so I busted out with two 05 Cabs. One is slightly on the pricier side (Groth) and the other is on the cheaper side (Cameron Hughes Lot 35). In short, they were both very good.

The Groth is one of my favorite cabs, it is a little heavy on the tanins, but still manages to be smooth, chocolatey and full of blackberries and currants. I fell in love with this cab when I tasted it up in napa, and on site bought five bottles of it for special occasions. It has gotten pretty good reviews, and consistently gets ratings between 90-93 points. It is definitely a litle bit pricey, running between $45-65, depending where you go. Thus, it is not an everyday, wine, but something you can save for special occasions, especially because it ages well, it could easily be stored for another 5+ years, as the grapes still taste a little young.
Groth Vineyards
2005 Cabernet
Region: Napa Valley


The other, cheaper cab I brought was the Cameron Hughes Lot 35 2005 Cabernet, which is incredibly soft, has light undertones of Oak and vanilla, and is fragrant kind of like tea. It is definitely plesant on the palette and can be paired with either lighter or heavier meals, because the texture is soft, yet it is still full bodied. It retails anywhere from $13-16. The great thing about the Cameron Hughes was that it was a gift, and I had no idea it was so cheap until I actually looked it up. It tastes more like a 30-40 dollar bottle of wine than something that is half the price.

Cameron Hughes Lot 35
2005 Cabernet
Region: Yountville