The Desert WIne Guy - 2013 Dominican Oaks Cabernet Sauvignon - A Real Sugar Bomb

   Today's review will be a rather short one because that is really all this so so Napa Valley Cabernet really deserves. Today's review is of the 2013 Dominican Oaks Cabernet Sauvignon. This is a wine that you really can't find any information about for some reason. The makers of this wine are the Rutherford Wine Company however when you go to their webpage you can't find anything on this wine, they make no claim to the label. The only way I knew they made it was because I looked at the back of the bottle. There is no other information about this wine that I can find available. This is a $20 bottle of wine that no one wants to take credit for. I would love to tell you more about the wine from the angle of the makeup of the grapes (blending) or a little about the winery but since no is willing to take ownership of the wine I guess I won't worry about it.
  Call me weird but when I pour a wine into my glass I enjoy pouring a very small amount. I believe rightly or wrongly, that this gives the wine more of an opportunity to open up quicker and allows me to really get into the swirling of the wine. I also feel that since there is so little in the glass it allows more room for air to mix in quicker. I am not saying there is any scientific evidence to this but it sounds good in my mind :) This can be a detriment as well because by the time I am half way thru the bottle Mrs. Desert Wine Girl has Dinner ready and there is still half a bottle left that goes down the sink drain since I don't like wine sitting around even for a day.
   Now to the wine and what I thought of it. First remember that we are talking about a $20 bottle of wine. With all the great wine being offered in today's market at prices just under this wines price, I feel this wine should stand out. Now while that is fresh in your mind I want you to think about the fact that this wine is VERY fruit forward and VERY sweet. In the glass the wine looked pretty nice however and I had hopes for a good wine to be in the cards. A medium to dark, inky / Burgundy in color appearance sat in the bowl of my glass. The Bouquet consisted of Caramel, Black Berry and Hibiscus....still promising I thought and I was getting more excited in anticipation. For $20 this would be what I should expect and it is what I thought I was about to receive. Here however is where expectations met reality and you will see what the results are.
   From the very first sips of this wine till the very last sip of this wine the wine changed or opened up very little. On my Palette I consistently tasted Oak and Black cherry but to me the overly dominate note in this wine was a very fruity Black Cherry that carried with it a lot of sweetness. There were nice notes of Cassis and there were also some nice Tannins but they couldn't help this wine much. Because the Cassis and tannin's were so nice I did however raise the final score on this wine by 1 point but the overall sweet notes simply couldn't be overcome enough to raise it more than that.
   I'm not going to sit here and say that this wine was not O.K but it was really just an average fruit forward, hastily made Cabernet Sauvignon. I won't even use the word decent to describe it. There are many of these wine out there and if the wine was less expensive for what it was I might have raised the score another point for value but not at this price point, no way. Although the Bouquet may seem to have been nice I didn't find this wine really expressing itself or able to use it for it's benefit. The notes as described were there but they didn't ....yell out that they were there, they were simply present. If I had to use one word to describe the wine it would be "sweet". If you like a fruit forward Cabernet Sauvignon, as I do but hate when they are dominated by sweetness than you seriously need to look elsewhere. This wine sits at a price point that I feel more, much more is expected of it. There was some Caramel in it when the wine opened up but still not enough to make any meaningful impact.
   Bottom line here is that unless you like the fruit forward, overly sugary tasting red wine this is not the wine for you. There are a lot better and for a less expensive price that blow this wine away. If you are looking for one here ( http://desertwineguy.blogspot.com/2015/12/the-desert-wine-guy-2011-black-stallion.html) is my review on one. For $10.99 you will have yourself an excellent fruit forward yet NOT overly sweet, expressive Cabernet Sauvignon that I rated at 93 points on The Desert Wine Guy Rating Scale. As for this wine well it can't hope to touch that rating and I place it at 86 points on The Desert Wine Guy Rating Scale.

                                                                                                                   The Desert Wine Guy

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The Desert WIne Guy - 2013 Z Alexander Brown "Uncaged" Propriety Red Blend

The 2013 Z Alexander Brown "Uncaged"

    Hello everyone, today I want to discuss a little bit about a wine from Z Alexander Brown entitled "Uncaged". Before we get into this wine review however, I would like to tell you a short story about just exactly how I came across this wine in the first place. Last year, in November I came across and did a review (http://desertwineguy.blogspot.com/2015/12/the-desert-wine-guy-2011-black-stallion.html) of  the 2011 Black Stallion Cabernet Sauvignon from the Delicato Family Vineyards. I loved the wine so much that I searched all over to find some more. It turned out that this particular vintage was sadly  unavailable (sadly) anymore. Well to make a long story short I finally managed to find the last couple of bottles at a wine seller on line named WineLibrary (https://winelibrary.com/) and bought a couple of bottles for my cellar. When I went back to get some more they of course were sold out. Well I still wanted a couple of more bottles and I ended up contacting the Delicato Family Vineyards (http://www.delicato.com/) themselves who are the makers of Black Stallion and I was referred to Allison Mendoza who is the Areas Sales Manager for Nevada. She unfortunately informed me that neither she nor her numerous wine sources were able to get me any more of that particular vintage, she was however able to get me the 2013 vintage and she would gladly get me a bottle to review if I so desired. Well I assumed that if the actual winery can't come up with any more that I have to believe that it is not available anymore. I also hoped that if the 2013 was as good as the 2011 than I was in luck and I felt the wine maker deserved a shot at trying to impress me again. Well Allison and I ended up meeting at a local coffee house here in Las Vegas and to my surprise Allison brought not only a bottle of the 2013 Black Stallion but a bottle of wine named Z Alexander Brown "Uncaged" red propriety blend as well. Neither wines had actually been released to the general public at that time although you should be able to find them at the time you are reading this review. Before I go on I wanted to give a special thank you to Allison. I was very impressed with her and thought she was very professional and presented the Delicato Family Vineyards extremely well. Allison was also prompt for our meeting which is important to me and was extremely pleasant and informative as well. We ended up speaking for about an hour and I learned much about the wine and distribution end of alcohol in general.
   With that being said I would like to establish once again before I move into the body of this review that this wine was a gift from Allison on behalf of the Delicato Family Vineyards.  As always, I promise you that I will always give you my honest opinion. Remember that I have a full time job and am not beholden to anyone. One last item before we get into the heart of the review. In case you think that you might recognize the name Z Alexander Brown from somewhere but you can't put your finger on it Yes, the wine is named after the singer Zac Brown.
   So lets begin at the pour. This wine is truly what is known as an inky red wine. The color is really wonderful to experience, it is like a feast for the eyes. You can almost see how good this wine is going to be by it's appearance. So we have started off here on a good note for this wine. There really isn't much more to say about the appearance of this wine in my glass so let's now move on.
   Now we move to the Bouquet. I really wish that the Bouquet was as appealing to my nose as the pour was to my eyes, unfortunately I can't really say much about the Bouquet because there really isn't much of a Bouquet in my opinion to speak about. There were notes of Blackberry and Baking Spice there but they were fairly on the weak side. Basically there really wasn't much of anything on the nose I am sorry to say. So far it looks as if we have a mixed review here doesn't it? Don't be fooled into thinking that this review is going down hill here though folks because it most certainly is not.

Back of The "Uncaged" Wine Bottle

   Onto how the wine was on my Palette. Here is truly where this wine really shines. When I very first put this wine in my mouth the first thought that came to mind was "wow, impressive". My mouth was filled with some simply powerfully impressive notes and I really was rather impressed. Here is a wine that has as much depth to it as there is color on the pour and that folks is a lot. To continue, there is a luscious, deep, rich Black Cherry note followed by well refined and rather nice Cassis that coats the Tongue. Pretty serious deep BlackBerry notes are in here as well.  In the wine and on the finish there is a hint of Caramel that seems to softens the BlackBerry note and provides a velvety smoothness. Adding to the finish is the sense of a almost a hint of Black Pepper and along with the rest of the notes mentioned adds to this delicious mix. Yes, there is a lot on the finish. It is very busy in a good way. There really isn't one particular flavor that dominates the finish which think is nice.
   There is also a surprising hint of Blueberry note that I detected as well. Wow, this wine folks is seriously shaping up to be a very "in your face" (which I love) red wine blend. As I said the deep Black Cherry is the first note to hit your Palette however the other notes I  have already mentioned come along for the ride almost instantly and are almost, but not quite equal in their presence on your Palette. Some pretty nice notes of slightly chewy Tannins also  managed to creep their way into this wine. I totally love the way the Tannins and that note of Cassis create a sort of chewiness in my mouth, we are talking about a fairly complex tasting wine. I happen to love a wine that is not shy but is instead so bold and flavor packed that it almost screams "look at me". Yeah, this is a slightly fruit forward wine but it has so much more to offer your on your Palette that it is almost easy to overlook for those of you who are put out off by fruit forwardness in a wine. Simply put, this is a wine that doesn't request, it demands distinction, it screams suit & tie on one hand and casual steak dinner at home on the other. The notes of BlackBerry and the others I mentioned carry's this wine trough nicely to the finish and complete this outstandingly superior wine you won't regret it you bought it. This is another wine that is in the same family as the last few reds I have been reviewing meaning that it is not for the weak of heart.
   It was rather interesting I thought while I was reviewing this wine that this is the first release of this label and I couldn't help but think what would happen if this wine hit it big with the so called professional wine reviewers. What if this wine in three months was unavailable on the market anymore becaus eit took the wine world by storm and happened to win best new wine of the year? What, it could really happen :) Here I was having the great fortune of tasting this wine before it was released to the general public, I just thought that was really cool. I also want to give credit where credit is due. Zac Brown himself of course did not make this wine but he deserves a lot of credit for hooking up with the man who did, So you ask, who did make this wine? Well none other than John Killebrew. John also made wine at Pareidolia Wineworks and Havens Wine Cellars in the Napa Valley. By the way this isn't Johns first venture in combining the music and the wine industry into one. In 2012 John and the Spanish artist Gabriel Moreno also along with the Delicato family joined together to create "Juxtapoz" which is another red wine blend from California's North Coast (as is the "uncaged") that seems to be getting very nice reviews.

John Killebrew (left) And Zac Brown (Right)

If I may I'd like to make a suggestion to all my red wine fans. Here is another wine that is in the same category as the 2012 Franciscan Cabernet Sauvignon (http://desertwineguy.blogspot.com/2016/01/the-desert-wine-guy-2012-franciscan.html) that I recently reviewed. For both of these wonderful wines I am going to be purchasing a couple of bottles for my wine cellar and who knows perhaps just to say I have them. The one fortunate thing for you is that unlike the Franciscan, the "Uncaged" has just been released and is available in enough quantity (for the moment) that you can try a bottle for yourself before spending the money to buy two more bottles later to put away. Who know s this might even become one of those "cult wines" that everyone must have. I think that whether it becomes a cult wine or not this is a wine that you are going to love and is more than capable to be both a wine for that steak night or the wine for that special event, either way it will surely stand out as a wine of respect.

   You must be a dark, Red wine drinker in order to appreciate this Red blend. This is A big wine too die for essentially. There is the very slight note of sweetness that I detected but nothing too overbearing and the other notes work well in attempting to cut down on the sugary notes. Unfortunately this is where the one negative item I found in this wine came to the forefront I am sorry to say. While the sweetness to the wine is really for the most part negligible it does tip to the slightly pronounced side and is enough for me to be forced to take away a couple of points from this still wonderful wine. We will discuss the sweetness level a little further in the review when I give you my rating. This is a truly awesome wine and one that I think is going to make a big splash in the wine industry. The Delicato Family should once again be proud to claim this label as another winner that will continue to put the family on the wine map and do them proud.

The Indelicato Family

   O.K lets put this all together now. This is a full bodied, powerful, in your face, yet smooth and impressive at the same time Red blend of a wine. The Delicato Family Vineyards have done it once again, they have managed to  impress this wine reviewer with another of their wines.  The 2013 Z Alexander Brown "Uncaged" propitiatory Red blend is a wine that I feel needs to be poured in wine glasses throughout the wine world and judged as possibly a "best in class" by some reviewers. I can't speak for Zac Browns music because I am not a country music fan but I can speak for his (John Killebrew) wine. This wine while having the notes of Cassis and Tannins is for the most part smooth as silky in your mouth. I highly recommend it.  SO let's get to my scoring of this wine. Originally this wine was headed for 94 points on The Desert Wine Guy Rating Scale but unfortunately that just a hair over the top sweetness that it seemed to exhibit in my book brought it down 2 points in the overall score. The wine ends with a rating of 92 very respectable points.

                                                                                                                  The Desert Wine Guy

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