WBW #34: Washington Cabernet Sauvignon: Ex Libris 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon
It’s Wednesday and I’m drinking wine virtually chosen by another person, so it must be Wine Blogging Wednesday, this time hosted by Catie from the Through the Walla Walla Grape Vine blog.
The theme, fittingly enough, is cabernet sauvignon from Washington State, with Catie offering up extra kudos for anyone tasting a Walla Walla wine.
Unfortunately, there won’t be any brownie points coming my way. Try as I might, I wasn’t able to find a varietal cabernet sauvignon from Walla Walla. So, I went with this Ex Libris 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon from Columbia Valley ($20).
Ex Libris means "from the library" in Latin and Polaner Selections purchased wine lots from ‘top producers’ to create this wine. It is made with cabernet sauvignon (82%) from the Champoux and Millbrandt Vineyards
along with other Columbia Valley cabernet
vineyards, blended with merlot (8%), syrah (8%) and a little petite verdot (2%).
I opened this wine this evening just as Nena was getting Jackson ready for his last bottle before bed. I tasted it right away and it was okay-dark berries and plum, sweet oak and a little vanilla, but nothing spectacular or interesting. But, we let it sit in our glasses as we took care of the little man and came back to it.
It’s really opening up nicely. It is still lacking in structure a little bit more me, but it’s not the ‘fruit bomb’ that I feared it was. Hints of tobacco, spice and even a little eucalyptus have emerged on a rather plush palate that, again, could use a little more structure for me. But, if you like your cab fruity and low-tannin, this is a pretty tasty wine. For me, it’s just a little too jammy-sweet, although the complexity that has started to emerge is very nice at this price point.
Thanks, Catie, for hosting and keep an eye out for the announcement of Wine Blogging Wednesday #35.
Hi Lenn,
Your WBW link is up and ready. Thanks for participating. Yup — no brownie points for you.
Cheers and many thanks to you for making this possible. It was a lot of fun and I would love doing it again.
Had the 2004 version of this. Too sweet. Very disappointing coming from a class operation like Polaner.
I had this back in December and *loved* it. Very dark and delicious. Bought a bottle a few months back for around $16 and recently saw the price has gone up to $20-25. Haven’t opened my more recent purchase yet so it will be interesting to see what I think of this one now…