Today we review a 2006 Napa Valley cabernet that will cost you $20.
Bottom line: Good! Maybe a bit “normal,” but with the right food, really shines.
IMPORTANT NOTE: This review deals with the Louis M. Martini “Napa Valley” cabernet, which goes for around $20. NOT the regular ol’ Louis M. Martini cabernet, which is like $11, and not in the same league.
Here with the “Napa Valley” cabernet, we have a very moderate, somewhat generic and very nice little red wine. It has a nice, reasonable amount of tannins, maybe more than the average wine, but not beyond the pale. It smells nice and does nothing wrong. It’s not very complex. It has that familiar California tannin bite and dryness. It tastes like a combination of oak, leather, cranberries, blackberries and . . . . OK, look, it tastes like every other decent California cabernet, I admit it. Alright?!?
But it’s good. So I say, buy it. I had it with a steak dinner and it just kept on delivering that lovely California steak wine thing.