Head to Head to Head: Three Cabs

Being limited in my posts-per-week due to lack of internet, my next few posts will be multiple bottle reviews. We'll start with three Cabs (2 from California and 1 from Chile). This review will lay them out from least expensive to most expensive (not taking into account coupons or sale prices) and at the end I'll give a recap as to my preference of the three taking into account flavor, cost and availability. Without further ado, on to the review!

2008 Santa Helena Vernus Cabernet Sauvignon, Chile

Color – Ruby red

Nose – Blackberry jam, blueberry, raspberry, green bell peppers

Taste – This bottle of wine showed up at my local Costco, and I couldn’t pass up the chance to sample yet another Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon. After this wine had decanted for nearly 30 minutes I decided to take my first sip, and I was nicely surprised. This wine seems simple, but in reality is far from it. The attack bears lovely notes of black currant and blackberry with just a hint of bittersweet chocolate. The mid-palate is rather “warm” with firm tannins, astringency that is nearly perfect and acidity from the alcohol but not a lot of heat. The finish is long with heavy flavors of licorice, burnt caramel, tobacco and leather. This wine is full bodied, fruit forward with a finish that balances the fruit notes with “sharp” flavors and leaves a pleasant after taste on my tongue. For under 10 dollars this is a pretty good purchase as this wine holds up to a lot of different flavors (I personally tried it with burgers, steak and pizza on three different occasions and this wine went great with all three).
Overall, this wine shows a good QPR as the flavors are complex enough to allow this wine to hold up to multiple kinds of foods. This Cabernet Sauvignon is also very drinkable by itself. I was surprised that this is as good as it is. I am truly perplexed by the number of superior Chilean wines that are priced in the sub-10 dollar range is so large; perplexed but very happy. This is a must try, pick it up on your next trip to Costco because it might not be on the shelves for long.

Santa Helena Winery

2008 Dominican Oaks Cabernet Sauvignon, California

Color – Dark red, with a near black core

Nose – Black currant, licorice, chalk dust, caramel

Taste – This was a recommendation from one of the Total Wine “Beverage Specialists” or whatever they’re called. He talked about it as if it were the best Cabernet Sauvignon for under 20 dollars, considerably better than the Courtney Benham Cabernet Sauvignon I like so much. So at 17 dollars I went out on a limb and grabbed this bottle. I won’t say that he’s completely wrong, but his palate and mine differ quite a bit. This is a very silky, smooth red wine in the beginning that transforms into something of a mangled beast in the middle, then reforms again after the finish back to silky, smoothness. The attack is “warm” (reminding me almost of a liqueur or cordial) and somewhat heavy for my tastes. I can taste cherry, currant, raisin and licorice. The licorice holds on a long time, all the way through the mid-palate. Speaking of the mid-palate this one is a little rough for my palate; with the majority of it coming on as strong alcohol heat/acidity and puny tannins/astringency. As I said before the licorice comes through the rough but short mid-palate and right into the medium-length finish and is joined by blackberry, dark cherry, vanilla, black pepper and oak. The finish tapers off into a smooth, warm, silky mouthfeel that is full of cherry skins and red plum flesh. This is a medium-to-full bodied wine, and at warmer temperatures the medium falls right off that and this wine takes on a weight of its own that can seem rather cloying at times.
Overall, this is not my cup of tea, or glass of wine as it may be. I am sure this is a quality wine, I can tell by the mouthfeel and texture of the wine that runs throughout the entire sipping experience. It might even be a pretty good QPR, but for my palate I’d give it a fair QPR rating. I won’t be coming back here again even though this wine went well with steak and a hearty salad, it failed with simpler foods (spaghetti marinara on one night and grilled chicken breast with rice au gratin on another night). It’s just too much money for what I would consider a rather confused red wine. It starts yummy and smooth, and finishes yummy and smooth; but the middle is one big yucky “hot” mess. I’d recommend passing on this and getting the Courtney Benham I mentioned above for a few dollars more or maybe the Crios de Susana Balbo Cabernet Sauvignon for the same amount. Either of those are just as complex and far more balanced Cabernet Sauvignons. You let me know what you think.

2008 Wheelhouse Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon, California

Color – Ruby red with violet hints at the edges

Nose – Plum, cherry, licorice, vanilla

Taste – This delightful Cabernet Sauvignon was nearly half off at Cost Plus, and when I can pick up a 20 dollar bottle for almost 10 dollars I jump at the chance. It only solidified my decision when several employees and a customer informed me I’d made a good decision on my wine choice. I am happy I listened to them, though I’m not completely sold on this wine’s qualities. Don’t get me wrong this wine tastes good, but it’s not 20 dollars worth of goodness. There is some complexity and it starts off right as the wine passes the lips. The attack is evenly layered dark fruits and berries; plum and blackberry mixed with dark cherry and red and black currants. These fruit flavors aren’t overwhelmingly sweet but rather dark, smoky and rich with underlying spice flavors when the wine is moved along the palate. The mid-palate is full of firm tannins, bright acids and pleasing astringency. The tannins run into the long-ish finish in the form of ripe fruit skins, but the finish is also rather dark; the predominant flavors being those of licorice, leather, tobacco, cloves and smoke. This is full bodied, though it tends to feel “lighter” when it’s chilled just a little. It tastes equally well slightly chilled or at warmer temperatures, though it fares best when paired with some charred beef and at room temperature.
Overall, this is a good wine and at the price I purchased it, I would rate it a good-nearly-great QPR. But I don’t think I would pay 20 bucks for this bottle. It doesn’t give Courtney Benham’s Napa Cab a run for its money, but falls far short of the quality of that wine. I admit that this is better than 95% of any wine you will find under 15 dollars. But if you do a lot of tasting you will find those 5% bottles crop up even at your local supermarket. In all honesty I have to recommend that you try this wine because it is a very flavorful and complex wine, that being said; seek, find, and buy – but attempt to do it on the cheap!

Wheelhouse Wine Cellars


In closing, all of these wines were drinkable though the Dominican Oaks almost got cut from the trio due to it's messy and confusing mid-palate. In my opinion, the Santa Helena Cabernet Sauvignon is the best wine for the money easily containing the most complexity and depth for the price. If you can get the Wheelhouse Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon at a reduced rate (15 dollars or less) than you are getting the best of the three, but at full price this wine comes in second. It does taste good and offer considerable complexity and flavor, but 20 dollars a bottle is just a little off-putting. Coming in last is the Dominican Oaks Cabernet Sauvignon and truly this wine was close to being taken off this list altogether. If I could focus just on the attack and the finish this wine would tie the Santa Helena for first, but the sheer brutality of the mid-palate knocks this down to third place and that's not even taking into account the 17 dollar price tag on this bottle. The Dominican Oaks and Vernus are probably the easiest wines to find. Though I purchased the Vernus at Costco, I believe you can find it at Total Wine & More which is where I purchased the Dominican Oaks. I have only seen the Wheelhouse at Cost Plus and it might not be available at the Cost Plus in your region due to the purchasing tendencies of the Beverage Specialist at your local Cost Plus. In all I hope these reviews help you on your journey with wine.