Full Review

McGrail Vineyards

McGrail Vineyards
2019 Patriot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Livermore Valley

Pair this wine with:
Beef Vegetables

Category: Cabernet Sauvignon

Date Tasted:
Country: USA
Alcohol: 14.7%
90 Points
Gold Medal
Exceptional
$54
Cellar Selection

McGrail Vineyards
2019 Patriot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Livermore Valley

Pair this wine with:
Beef Vegetables

Category: Cabernet Sauvignon

Date Tasted:
Country: USA
Alcohol: 14.7%
Ruby black color. Aromas and flavors of blackberry and boysenberry, mint, sage, and thyme, prune juice, and baking spice with a round, vibrant, dry medium-to-full body and a warming, complex, medium-long finish with suggestions of cherry alpine cough drops, stewed berries, blood orange, and cigar ash with medium, well-integrated, chewy tannins and light oak flavor. Fruity and herbaceous, this is a friendly wine to pop for dinner this evening with potential to improve with three to five years of aging.

Tasting Info

Wine Glass Style: New World
Aroma Aroma: blackberry and boysenberry, mint, sage, and thyme, prune juice, and baking spice
Taste Flavor: Same as aromas with suggestions of cherry alpine cough drops, stewed berries, blood orange, and cigar ash
Sweetness Sweetness: Dry
Enjoy Enjoy: Now-3 years with food and on its own
Recipes Pairing: Pot Roast, Steak & Potatoes, Beef Stew
Bottom Line Bottom Line: Fruity and herbaceous, this is a friendly wine to pop for dinner this evening with potential to improve with three to five years of aging.

The Producer

McGrail Vineyards and Winery

The Producer

Cabernet Sauvignon

Wine Glass Cabernet.jpg
Serve in a Cabernet Wine Glass
Cabernet Sauvignon is a variety that is the source of some of the world’s most celebrated and longest-lived reds. Grown in many countries, it is most famous in Bordeaux, where it is the principal grape in red Bordeaux as well as in California – especially Napa Valley- where it is labeled by its varietal name.

Cabernet Sauvignon has aromas and flavors of black currant, cassis, black cherry and sometimes plum (in warmer regions or vintages). Quite rich on the palate, the variety is very tannic, giving its wines a bitter edge in their youth, but also providing the wines with great aging potential, with top flight examples drinking well for as long as four or five decades. Given their richness and flavor profile, wines made from Cabernet Sauvignon need to be paired with rich red meats, such as steaks and roasts as well as game.

Besides France and California, other countries with warm growing regions also excel with Cabernet Sauvignon. These include the Maipo and Colchagua Valleys in Chile as well as the Bolgheri district, situated on the coast of Tuscany.