Ft. Scotto Family Cellars – Cabernet Sauvignon 2016
Back when I didn’t know how to drink wine, I drank a lot of a certain brand with a giant rooster on it. I scoffed at those who would dare drink wine with a foot on the bottle, nose upturned toward those plebes who drank from a box (times have changed on that last one, let me tell ya). But that rooster came to represent wines from the Lodi region of California to me. And… after many a bottle and eventually developing some sense of taste for better wine… I just wasn’t impressed and tended to avoid that region entirely.
So, why did I pick this particular cab to review? Because I didn’t notice it said Lodi on the bottle! Funny how that works. I was also intrigued because this bottle rang up at a cool $9.99. I started this blog with the hope that I could discover some hidden gems – bottles that taste great but are cheap enough to open on a weeknight without feeling like you should be saving it for an occasion in which you’re wearing real pants.
Which brings us to this $10 wine. Even if it wasn’t great, no big loss. And, if it WAS great, then even better. And, lo and behold, I like this wine. A lot better than I remember liking the ol’ Rooster Wine from my youth – which I guess isn’t the highest praise, but I promise it’s a compliment nonetheless.
See – 4/5 – Granted, I do most of my drinking after dark and am starting to get the feeling I should start pouring these earlier. Maybe start drinking early too. That being said, I hope you’re getting the message that I love a deep red. For nails, for hair, for lingerie, I am here for it. The color is nice.
Smell – 4/5 – I get instant, strong notes of oaked spices and almost a hint of red licorice. There’s a sweet smell to this wine that’s missing from other budget wines. It’s just hard to make a nuanced wine for the masses, but this one does better than most.
Sip – 3/5 – Like many wines from the Lodi region (I studied up this week, y’all), this wine is a smidge smoky, very juicy like the perfect blackberry ripe from the garden, acidic, and noisy. However, it mellowed out into something much better than I expected.
Savor—4/5 – By the end of the bottle, this week’s Sunday Sauvignon has relaxed into a pleasant, lively wine that lingers with notes that skew closer to cranberry than the blackberry that seemed so prominent up front. Scotto Family ages its cab sauv for 18 months in used French oak barrels after a fermentation in stainless steel, and that oakiness develops more after a long decant. The end result is silky and spicy and pairs best with cozy pants and a big blanket sized for 2.