Wine 7

To me, this feels a little much like stacking the deck. This is a "Bordeaux Style Wine," from a producer in Carmel Valley. It's a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petite Verdot. This seems a wine built for aging well, and it holds up wonderfully, even under the pressure of nine years of amateurish storage. I had high hopes for this wine, a mutt bred of several varietals and in a region of varied soils. Mutts, as we all know, possess the truest character, and a hearty Table Red can be the finest mutt of all.
I detected strong cherry immediately, and a leathery oak flavor. We disagreed on the specific woodiness, as it became more like cedar or fresh-shaved ash. There is a fresh, crispness to the wood, summing to a really complex and fruity nose. Unlike some of the others in this experiment, this wine has maintained a huge amount of character.
The first thing we all noticed (there were the same three as last week) upon tasting is that this is a much drier wine that the others. The tannins have not disappeared from it, although they have no doubt mellowed. This is a very acidic wine with an unmistakable lime flavor and a Hickory smoke finish. The wine is thin in the mouth, but fills the nose completely.
This is a tasty wine and it has aged well.