week 1 wine review: freakshow - cabernet sauvignon

Name: Freakshow - Cabernet Sauvignon 

Variety of Grapes: a cross between Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc

Region/Country Of Origin: Geyserville, California, US

Price: $5.50 for 1 can (I purchased this as a 4 variety sampler mystery set from Vintage Cellar for $ 17.50)

Vintage Year: 2020

Shop: Vintage Cellar 

Shop Review: The fruit for this brute of a Cab comes from the original super freak, Michael Phillips vineyard located only a medicine balls toss away from the winery. Surprisingly nimble and elegant, showing great balance, strength, and poise. This Cabernet has a bouquet of dark cherry and roasted spices. Full bodied and mouth filling with gobs of blackcurrant, blackberry, charred oak, vanilla and cassis. Mild tannins with a mellow, long finish.

Wine Folly's Notes:

• Black cherry
• Black currant
• Cedar
• Baking spices
• Graphite

My Personal Review: It has an incredibly pretty and aesthetically pleasing deep red color that I can truly appreciate. The smell after swirling the wine is very 'traditional' for a red wine - if I were to imagine what a red wine would taste like, this would be it. A very flavorful wine, and in my opinion, I hold that to a fault. Because of the intense flavor you get when you first sip the wine, I found it close to impossible to actually discern any sort of notes and the only thing I could sense was that it was incredibly full-bodied and dry. It had a very sour taste to it, and if I really thought about the taste I could probably swing by it being berry like, but I am not sure if that is because I looked at the notes listed in the Wine Folly text beforehand. After letting it sit for roughly 50 minutes, the strong, almost pungent smell subsided, but it still was unpleasant to drink. 

I didn't intend to pair this with any food but ended up experimenting with goldfish and some taco bell hot sauce, and it honestly improved my experience with this wine by a lot. I think that the strong spicy flavors from the hot sauce cancelled out the stronger unpleasant notes from the wine perfectly. I know, from the Wine Folly book, that this is not the typical pairing you would do with a full-bodied red wine, but I can't say I wouldn't do it again if given the chance.