It is quite likely that Owl Ridge’s next vintages won’t be like this, but their 2007 & 2008’s are “crossover Zins” if there ever were. Not to “coin a term” of course, but many Cabs from these vintages just went a little over the top.
These Cabernets, from the big side of great years, are simply all berries and power and many of them are affordable because they don’t quite fit in the standard Cabernet Sauvignon mold. So if you like Zin, you may want to take a little walk over to this not so typical Cab.
In a blind tasting, this one would fool many of us because it has one of those intoxicating ripe cherry bouquets that people who like Zinfandel are attracted to. Straight and simple with a fresh fruit body and a spicy (maybe because of the 14.5% alcohol) softly tannic finish, it is full-on berries. So if you were going to pick up some Zin for the burgers, you may want to throw one of these in.
You can find it at all the Phoenix area Total Wine stores for about $20 but be sure to check the vintage to be 2007 or 2008. Other vintages may not be this big in flavor and it is possible that they blew out most of their 2007-2008 via Total Wine because of their non-Cab character. Hey, it’s just a guess.
Serve moderately chilled after about 40 minutes in the fridge (55-60 degrees). You may also like to aerate it, just to mellow out the bouquet just a tad and to bring out a buttery background that’s also present in the finish.
Article by Tom Peiffer, Phoenix Wine Shopping Examiner at Examiner.com
View more of Tom’s articles on Examiner.com by visiting his writer’s page.
