Bear Bros Cabernet Sauvignon 2017

The Story

The Bear Bros Cabernet Sauvignon 2017 is an ALDI $8.99 exclusive sourced from vineyards in California. That is about all the information on the production of this Cab that is available.

And that is ok because this is a lockdown wine, if you take a chance and head out to ALDI is grab some provisions can you also pick up a decent wine to help make watching Netflix for the 3rd week a row more palatable. ALDI does not have the most attractively displayed wines around, but there are some wines that are well worth drinking.

So what do we know or at least guess about the Bear Bros Cabernet Sauvignon 2017? First, a 9 buck store-brand wine is usually equivalent to an $11 or $12 wine at a retail wine shop. There are many variables with that assessment, but that is a ballpark guess.

This Cabernet Sauvignon is a 2017 vintage, which gives this wine about two years of aging. That is respectable for a sub-$10 drink-it-now wine, they are frequently produced with methods that allow the wine to come together quickly. That is fine, but you do not want shortcuts and two years of aging is a proper length for this style of wine.

The notes on the back label mention vanilla as part of the flavor profile and that is something that comes from some sort of oak aging. I would think that some if not all of this Cab Sauv some barrel aging. With a California Cabernet Sauvignon, we have come to expect oak flavoring in the wine, an un-oaked cabernet can seem a little weird.

I do not know for certain, but the actual winery that produced this wine (Bear Bros is an ALDI name) is also responsible for several other ALDI wines that I thought delivered some decent bang-for-the_buck. So on to the tasting notes to see if my quick store run purchase was a wise one. The alcohol content is 13.5%.

Bear Bros Cabernet Sauvignon 2017 Tasting Notes

The color is cherry jelly red with black highlights. The nose ripe jammy red berries, extracted blackberry, mint, vanilla, light spice, and just a hint of dark chocolate. This 9 buck Cabernet Sauvignon has a medium body and chewy sweet tannins. It starts with blackberry, milk chocolate, tart cranberry, and black pepper.

The mid-palate adds vanilla creme, plum, and soft spice. The aforementioned chewy tannins added some unexpected character, but do not interfere with the flavor profile. The acidity allows this cabernet to be bright and fresh.

I am going to skip writing about a wines finish unless it just happens to be extraordinarily good. For the most part, I do not particularly care about what happens after I quit drinking the wine. If it is really good I am constantly taking another sip, so the finish rarely comes into play.

The Summay

• The Bear Bros Cabernet Sauvignon 2017 is a worthy lock-down Netflix binging wine.
• I tend to prefer the style of Cabernet Sauvignon that they make that sells closer to twenty dollars than ten dollars. The more complex winemaking production gives the wine a little more oomph, which I prefer in my Cabernet.
• But with that said, this is very drinkable wine that delivers beyond its modest price tag.