The 2010 Shadow Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon is the value label of Bianchi Vineyards, a high end winery and vineyards located in Paso Robles, California. Bianchi has been producing the Shadow Ridge line of wines since at least 2005. The label is not mentioned on the Bianchi website and Shadow Ridge does not have a web presence of its own. The label on the bottle has only the minimum information that is legally required, so there is not much information available on the Shadow Ridge other than it should sell for about $9 and the alcohol content is 13%.

The color is a clear see-thru cherry red with purple highlights. The nose is black cherry, dusty cocoa powder, oak vanilla and cedar plank. This is a soft, smooth Cabernet Sauvignon, it starts with rounded black cherry and blackberry, followed by a faint hit of chocolate and POM Wonderful. The mid palate adds strawberry and blueberries in milk. The tannins are soft and the acidity is muted. The finish starts off strong but loses steam quickly.

The 2010 Shadow Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon is an easy going, fairly tasty, tuesday night Cabernet. Not complicated and a bit too soft and smooth to be interesting, but at 9 bucks that isn’t too much of a negative. It is a very approachable, medium bodied wine, with balanced fruit flavors, perfect for pizza or burgers.