Kendall Jackson, Jackson Hills Cabernet Sauvignon, 2007, Knights Valley, Sonoma, California

This wine reminds me of two major problems that I have been having with myself lately.  One that I am a vegetarian in a land of Kalua Pork and Loco Moco and this wine desperately cries out for something like a blood-red rare steak to be paired with.  And two that I don't make nearly enough money to enjoy wines like this on a regular basis.  Oh well, thank god for a few well-endowed family members who like to bring me wine on their visits to Hawaii.  

This cab has a cherry red rim with a deep opaque purple black core and shows off some long ass legs on the swirl.  The nose sings dried cherry, dutch cocoa, mint, and at least at first a whole lot of heat.  Fresh out of the bottle, this wine has extremely dry, puckery tannins.  After settling in down in the glass for a bit the tannins get more dusty revealing complex layer of flavor.  I tasted black cherry soda, black pepper, and tar.  So many black flavors I couldn't stop thinking about Jay-Z's huge comeback album in 2003.  

On day two, the heat began to blow off and the fruit started to pop.  I got really ripe big blueberries and wet plum with underlying structural notes of clean oak and espresso.  This Cab comes from Knights Valley which is the warmest AVA in Sonoma rubbing right up against Napa.  The 2007 harvest was an ideal growing season as it was long, smooth, and warm.  Considering the commercial nature of the winery, the heat of the year, and the inevitable push to appeal to a broad base of drinkers, the winemakers demonstrate a real sense of restraint.  

P.S. Lately, as a Willamette Valley ex-pat without access to mom and pop tasting rooms, I have been digging these slightly higher-end smaller production offerings from the mega-commercial wineries.  Does that make me a bad person?