2005 Pine Ridge Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon

There are a couple of American Viticultural Areas (AVA) that I feel produce some excellent Cabernet Sauvignons.   A few that comes to mind are Stags Leap, Howell Mountain, Diamond Mountain and Oakville.  I am not saying the other AVA’s do not produce great Cabernet Sauvignons, I’m just saying the ones above are some of my favorites in Napa Valley!  This night we were looking for a Pine Ridge Cab as we really enjoy their wines.

When we were at Pine Ridge in May we attended a cave tour with our friends Dave and Heather.

While on the tour we had discovered the wine maker Michael Beaulac has changed the fermentation process from what had been done earlier by Stacy Clark.  I’m not going to go into the gory details…. however, my understanding is the wine will be better than what it has ever been.  I am looking forward to trying some of the wines.

Machine used for part of fermentation process

I wandered down to my cellars to decide which Pine Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon we were going to enjoy.  Pine Ridge has Cabs from many AVA’s including Stags Leap, Rutherford, Napa, Howell Mountain, and Oakville.   Chris’ favorite is the Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.  When we had our 25th Wedding Anniversary party last summer we bought and shared a 6 Liter bottle of the 2007 Napa Valley with our guests.

Tonight was going to be the night we had a bottle of 2005 Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon.

The Oakville AVA is well known for some great Cabernet Sauvignon’s as well.  If you want to invest some money some of the greats I recommend are Screaming Eagle and Opus One.  If your like me, I really don’t need to spend a ton of money on a wine unless I have a relationship with the people.  Maybe once in a great while I’ll invest in something different for a special event.  If you would like to know other wineries who produce Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon here is a great link:

http://www.oakvillewinegrowers.com/

I was really looking forward to trying the Oakville Cabernet.  I grabbed a copy of my tasting notes, a pen and a cork screw.  I was ready to pull the cork and rate this wine!

I poured Chris and I both a glass and prepared my notes…

As I examined the 2005 Oakville Cab, I noticed the color depth was deep and the color was dark garnet.  I also noticed there was no sediment in our glasses.  You could see the meniscus was looking a little bricky which is what I really love.

I let the Cabernet settle a bit and decided it was time to give it a smell.  The Oakville Cabernet was very aromatic.  The development was still very young.  Some of the aromas I noted were Blueberry, bright Red Cheery and a slight spice.  This is an excellent Cabernet Sauvignon!

We could not wait any longer.  Usually Chris caves first and takes a taste….  As we sipped the Cab we were every pleased  as it was full bodied!  The acidity was right on and the tannins were medium and could be felt throughout our mid palate.  The flavor intensity was great, not overwhelming and the finish was long.  Some of the flavors noted were Cherry, Cocoa and spice.

Neither one of us hesitated to rate the 2005 Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon from Pine Ridge four glasses.  I’m pleased to say we have many more bottles in our cellar to enjoy alone and with our friends!

Cheers!
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