The Desert WIne Guy - 2016 Daou Cabernet Sauvignon

Daou 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon

   How many of you guys are influenced by Social Media or even the Media in general? Speaking here only for myself as I can only answer for myself, I say that the answer is very little if any. When I originally started the whole Desert Wine Guy thing I told you guys that I don't get paid for doing this and that still stands true. Yes, there are times when I do get wines sent to me for review but always let you know straight up. I have also rated some of those wines as bad wines. I bring all of this up only because today's review wine is of the 2016 Daou Cabernet Sauvignon and there is a small story behind my purchasing of it. The night before I bought it I was lying in bed looking at my Vivino App when I saw this wine advertised and a rating of 4.1 (I think it was) next to it with numerous reviews. The very next day I am at Costco and low and behold there is the wine. I ended up picking up two bottles just in case the reviews were accurate. These were also the last two bottles of that vintage left so I couldn't take any chances. As I have always said, wine is very subjective so let's see what I think of the wine.
   Looking at the label I think that the Winemaker is indeed interested in presenting his wine as a serious one. While sort of plain, the label uses the Fonts and sketch type looking picture of a Winery and Vineyards to it's advantage as it puts you standing on the Horizon looking out onto it.
   The wine is Cork sealed and comes in at a moderate 13.9% Alcohol. The wine cost me around $20. The label states that it is bottled by Daou Vineyards but doesn't state where the grapes themselves come from. The wine was aged 11 months in 60% new French oak.

Daou Vineyards

   Let's move to the wines appearance in the glass as we get a little more serious into the tasting of it. Looking straight down the middle of the glass the wine appears as a dark Burgundy in color and as I already said, a serious wine. Holding a white paper underneath the wine in the glass I see that the wine appears still as a serious one yet lightens just a bit however it still holds as Burgundy in its color presentation.
   Moving onto the wines presentation on the Nose now, the wine is expressing notes of Cherry & Oak both at slightly less then moderate levels but certainly more then enough to detect as well as enjoy. There is a fairly moderate sense of sugar on the Nose as well which would initially convince me that the wine might be fruit forward or overly sweet, I guess time will tell. I also picked up sort of warmish type notes of Coffee and Cocoa throughout the Bouquet. I have to say that I am enjoying the Nose on the wine but how does the wine hold up on the Palate?

Daou Vineyards tasting room

   Okay so we are now at the hard part of a wine, the Palate. The question I will be answering here in this paragraph is how does the wine taste to me? Well let's start off with the fact that the Bouquet had it right concerning fruit forwardness, this red is indeed, without a doubt a fruit forward wine, an overly fruit forward wine as a matter of fact. Now if the wine should somehow manage to hold where it is and does not develop further in the jammy, fruit sugar area then it will just squeak by as drinkable in my book but nothing more, we will see though. The first fruit note that the wine throws out there is that of Dark Bing Cherry. Keep in mind that there is already quite a bit of sugar presented in this wine, adding the sugar which Bing Cherry brings is not helping the matter. This note by the way is what rules the overall Palate in the end. Blackberry follows right after this note and tries really hard to drag the wine sugar level to a more proper level and almost succeeds in doing so yet not quite. Now there is a bit of Acidity on the back end or Finish that stands out yet this can't change the fact that the wine is developing rather quickly into a way overly Jammy......mess. Lets talk about Black Currant for a minute because it is definitely present in this wine. A Tongue coating note of Black Current is prominent throughout the Palate and to me this is a good thing. This note of Black Currant meshes with a Sweet (think more sugar) Plum note and is flavorful yet is just one more reason for the wines Jammyiness that I am experiencing. As the wine stands around for around 30 minutes I will tell you that the Sweet Plum note is being used by the wine semi effectively to advance the wine across the Palate and towards a savory Oak note that works together positively for some structure in the wine. Speaking of structure the wine does have some yet......is unfortunetly wasted as the wine is way over the top when it comes to being fruit forward and in my opinion this throws my Palate off as it is simply not my preferred style

Daou Winery

in a red wine. There are so many Cabernet Sauvignons out there of this style ultimately this is just another one. So let me talk about Caramel that is present in the wine. This particular note adds a sort of smoothness in the wine that tones down what might have otherwise been abrasive with the Tannins that are present. The Tannins themselves that are present are more then adequate yet I think they should have been presented with more depth, they should stand out more in order to at least try to counteract the wines fruit / sugar faults. Throwing in another note now I want to add a note of cigar box that while you can taste or rather feel is subdued (once again) by those note of fruit forwardness and jamminess. I am sorry guys but I have to call it as I taste it. This is a big fruit wine for sure and it almost explodes in your mouth no doubt but needs to rethink it's presentation priorities / levels. Let me go ahead and talk about a few more notes that the wine is throwing out there. One of these notes is an Earthy quality to the wine and that is one of the few positives things the wine has going for it. This note is certainly tasted on the Palate yet (you guessed it) unfortunately though it is another note which is subdued by sweetness once again. There is a Leather note that tries it's best to cling to the Tongue but can't do much for the overall Palate because of the sweetness of the wine. There are notes of licorice and dried herb notes that while you can taste them aren't allowed to make a real impression, I'm sure that I don't have to tell you why. Well I'm sorry guys but I must end this review as I am super disappointed in this wine so here we go onto the closing paragraph.

Daou Vineyards 2

   In closing I want you to know that everyone from armatures to the so called professionals rates this wine very well. Do a quick search of the Internet and see what wine reviewers have to say concerning the wine, I am in the minority and I am comfortable being there. In my opinion wine this might even be considered to be overdone for a a zinfandel yet I could see the wine being of that varietal way more than it being pushed as a Cabernet Sauvignon. If you love the Zinfandel varietal you should jump on this wine quickly. To me this is like a Dessert Wine due to its sugary, fruit forward, jamminess. I wanted to like the wine as it has a certain something to it that you want to like and enjoy as it does have a variety of different notes that this varietal should possess yet the sugar in my mouth just killed it for me. On The Desert Wine Guy rating scale I give this wine 85 (nothing special) points. There is so much in the wine that wants to come forward and battle for your attention but these notes simply cannot, are not allowed to. The wine is absolutely dominated (ruined) by fruit forwardness, sugar and Jamminess and I cannot even finish the bottle. I can almost feel my bodies need for Insulin rising quickly :) My initial thoughts on the wine still stand. If you love an overly fruit forward & Jammy red wine then it looks like this wine is indeed for you.

                                                                                                             The Desert Wine Guy


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