Loon Cab Bottle 003
The Smoking Loon Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 is sourced from vineyards located in the Central Valley of Chile. Smoking Loon is one of Don Sebastiani and Sons ( a family owned wine company since 1909) wine labels. Smoking Loon is a negociant wine company, meaning that they have no vineyards or winery, they purchase grapes (mostly long-term contracts) and rent space in existing wineries to produce their wine. This greatly lowers their overhead and allows them to produce wine at a low-cost. The 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon is aged for 10 months in 50% French and 50% American oak, 60% new oak. The alcohol content is 13.5%.
The color is cherry red with black highlights. The nose is black cherry, vanilla, plum, violets and spice candy. This is a medium to full-bodied Cabernet, with dark berry flavors and excellent balance. It tastes of blackberry, licorice, a little cracked black pepper, raspberry and mild oak spice. The mid-palate shows slightly bitter dark chocolate and a hint of crème brûlée. The tannins are out-of-the-way and the acidity is somewhat muted. The finish starts off strong, but fades, though it never really goes away.
The Smoking Loon Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 is a solid under $10 Cabernet. Inexpensive Cabs can be pale imitations of the real thing, but the Smoking Loon looks like a Cab, smells like a Cab and tastes like a Cab. It’s an everyday Cabernet, not some big and bold $75 steakhouse Cab, you won’t get the two confused. But for under ten bucks the Smoking Loon Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 does a real nice job.
