Full Review

McGrail Vineyards

McGrail Vineyards
2019 Reserve, Cabernet Sauvignon, Livermore Valley

Pair this wine with:
Beef Vegetables

Category: Cabernet Sauvignon

Date Tasted:
Country: USA
Alcohol: 14.7%
91 Points
Gold Medal
Exceptional
$49

McGrail Vineyards
2019 Reserve, Cabernet Sauvignon, Livermore Valley

Pair this wine with:
Beef Vegetables

Category: Cabernet Sauvignon

Date Tasted:
Country: USA
Alcohol: 14.7%
Deep purple color. Aromas and flavors of mocha, espresso bean, black cherry and black plum, and leather with a round, lively, dry medium-full body and a peppery, delightful, medium-long finish that shows notes of dark chocolate covered acai, fudge, and pipe tobacco with well-integrated, medium, coating, firm tannins and light oak flavor. A beautifully made Cabernet showing silken textures of black fruits, mocha and baking spices.

Tasting Info

Wine Glass Style: New World
Aroma Aroma: mocha, espresso bean, black cherry and black plum, and leather
Taste Flavor: Same as aromas with notes of dark chocolate covered acai, fudge, and pipe tobacco
Sweetness Sweetness: Dry
Enjoy Enjoy: Now-3 years Enjoy on its own
Recipes Pairing: Pot Roast, Steak & Potatoes, Beef Stew
Bottom Line Bottom Line: A beautifully made Cabernet showing silken textures of black fruits, mocha and baking spices.

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.