I have been itching to look more at non-dessert wine since getting to try the 2022 Chateau Buena Vista Cabernet Sauvignon. I LOVED that wine, and have since picked up a couple bottles of the 2023 Chateau Buena Vista Cabernet only to watch its price go up after the fact.

This is my first time reaching back out in more depth with something like a cabernet sauvignon, and I was admittedly drawn to the “*NEW*” sign attached to the cases of this wine, as well as its $19.99 price point. Why not try the eight year old twenty dollar cabernet? I asked myself when deciding what to use as my first educational bottle.

I poured in my only and most reasonable wine glass then gave many a swirl before letting it sit for approximately five minutes. My notes on the appearance and nose took another five minutes before tasting.

APPEARANCE

Dark, almost blood red in the glass, with a somewhat cloudy and pinkish rim. It appears to be wholly lacking in viscosity and has no legs whatsoever.

NOSE

In candle and wax melt making the concept of “throw” is used to describe how far out a scent goes from its source and how strong it is at a distance. More throw means that the scent can be smelled stronger and from further away. This wine has moderately high throw.

At the rim of the glass I already have berries, primarily strawberry, and it isn’t very different from how I recall most glasses of Beaujolais Villages that I’ve had. At the start there is this small bit of vanilla cream in the underlayers, but a rising wood spice that pairs immediately with some amount of ethanol note coming, presumably, from the 14.5% alcohol content.

The nose changes as I swirl and sniff, and after only a couple minutes of this the berries are all but gone, and that wood spice has moved to the front.

PALATE

Bitter and astringent right away. There is fairly high acidity and frankly a general sense that those eight years were spent souring the wine rather than aging it. After the sour note peaks and trails off into a butter finish, I am left with a strange funk in my mouth that is simply displeasing. The berry notes were not present for me in the palate, perhaps because of the harshness, bitterness, and acidity that hit me in waves.

RATING

I rate this wine a 3/10.

(1 = Sickening / 5 = Average / 10 = Perfect)