Have you ever had the thought that if you see a wine too often and on the shelves of everywhere you go, that it must automatically be junk? What if Walmart even carries it, would that now cause you to think twice about buying it? If you do think this way and you answered yes to both (me) or either of these questions, don't feel bad guys because rightly or wrongly, I think the same way. As a matter of fact, that was the attitude that cropped up as I was looking on the stores wine shelves today. I saw the usual Tan label, Josh Cellars - Cabernet Sauvignon and thought, nah, I see that everywhere. Luckily, it just so happened that right next to that wine was this wine, the 2016 Josh Cellars, North Coast Reserve - Cabernet Sauvignon. Before I go on with the review I want to ask you guys one other question. What does the word "reserve" really mean when it is applied to a wine? The answer is.....nothing, absolutely nothing. I guess I shouldn't say "absolutely nothing" because it does actually mean something, it means the winery can charge more for that particular wine as the average consumer will believe the wine just has to be something special. What I am getting at is that the word has no legal meaning when it comes to a wine and can be applied to any wine, for any reason and without any justification. Guys, you know I'm The Desert Wine Guy and as such, I am above falling for the "reserve" thing. I am above that......right? In reality, I would like to think that I am but yet my curiosity got the best of me, it still led me to question if this wine behind this label would be different than the wine behind the other label. Is the wine really different though, let's find out.
So, as I said. today's review is on the 2016 Josh Cellars, North Coast Reserve - Cabernet Sauvignon. I bought this wine from my local Supermarket for $17.99 as compared to $12.99 for the tan label Cabernet. The wine comes in at 14% on the alcohol scale and the grapes for this wine are from Napa, Sonoma, Lake County, Mendocino, and Red Hills.
I will continue now and talk about the label on this wine. If this weren't the normal step in my reviews, I certainly would have made an exception for this particular wine. Just amazing, that is what my first thought was in relation to the label when I saw the bottle on the shelf. Eye catching is another thought I had and that I also believe fits this label as stunning Fonts and their colors exist in combination with one another. Look at that Gold and it's relation to the rest of the label guys, wow! If this wine isn't screaming elegance, I don't know what other wine is. On the shelf my eyes were just locked onto this bottle and I had to have it, and of course, because it was a reserve :)
Let's move onto the Bouquet of the wine and see how it holds up to the labels silent promise of elegance. As I bring the wine to my Nose I have to say that I am certainly getting at least some immediate confirmation in reference to the labels promise. Right away the wine is presenting a Cinnamon Note that is not exactly soft as it is certainly leading the way in the wines expression of perceived classiness. Helping this Note is a sense of what seems like a warm Cocoa Note which also seems to mix expertly with a bit of an alcohol Note. Together these three notes are simply all telling, teasingly delicious and together they present an awesome, incredible sense of perceived plushness as well. Slight oak mingles itself in here but is far from being dominate or even trying to dominate this wines Bouquet. Adding to this is a Cigar Box Note which is thankfully slightly more prominent than the oak and adds a bit more power to the wines Nose presentation. When everything is put together this wines Bouquet is very expressive and tells it like it is without being shy or pulling any punches.
Let us go ahead and actually look at the wine now. On the Pour, I will tell you right now that the wine is very dark. Holding a white piece of paper below the wine the wine was just barely visible. There was an ever so slight clarity to the very edges but the wine was amazingly close to being completely dark red in totality. Massive and long Legs were ever-present on the sides of my glass and they ran quickly down the sides.
Whew boy, I am excited to taste this wine folks. Looking at all that has been presented so far, what a shame it would be if the wine fell flat on its Palate presentation. Let me go ahead and get to that right now. When the wine hit my Palate and I swallowed it, I felt a slight alcohol burn that lingered onto the Finish and slightly beyond. This actually isn't a negative as it not only went well with the Cocoa on the Bouquet but here on the Palate as well. After a short bit, this Note disappeared and left a lot of other Notes that this wine has to offer up and it certainly does have a lot to offer up. As I continue on here, Cinnamon & Cocoa Notes transferred on over from the Bouquet to the Palate nicely and they were rather upfront as well. The plushness, that the label seemed to promise is really evident here and is very forward as well. I don't want you thinking however that these Notes block the other Notes that the wine has to offer up because it certainly does not so don't worry. These Cinnamon & Cocoa Notes are present from the Opening all the way to the Finish (which is long). What really jumps in and helps these Notes be even more effective is that ability to create that awesome plushness, it's incredible. Massive ripe black fruit is so very in your face in this wine as well. There are spicy accents that seem to come in and out rather quickly all the while keeping the Palate in a constant state of juiciness & liveliness. Fresh and ripe Black Cherry just explodes onto the Palate combined with a roasted nut Note as well. These Notes are so super forward and also mesh so very well with a bold, Black-Current Note. The Black-Currant doesn't come close to presenting itself as Tannin's sometimes can. In this case, the Note adds a sense of depth & a bit of Tannins as well to the wine which is really nice. Speaking of Tannin's, they are present but are really fine-grained in this wine and are not Tongue coating. Let's talk about a juicy Blackberry now. I find this note coming in just after Mid-Palate and it is ripe. Here is where I begin to find fault with the wine. This ripeness the wine loves so much is where an issue crops up concerning the wine for me and leads me to telling you that this is unfortunately a rather fruit-forward wine with a good bit of jamminess to it.
Let me talk for a second about the jamminess for a minute. Some of the Notes in the wine such as the Cinnamon do their best to try to lessen the impact of the jamminess and make it a bit more palatable but in the end, it is in a fight where it is in way over its head because jamminess & fruit forwardness is really over the top. As I move away from this big fault, the other Notes seem to know their place in the wine and they come in at just the right point on the palate. Let's go ahead and talk about a Mid-Palate Note of Clove because there certainly is one. This Clove Note is like I said at Mid-Palate but it is like a transporting vehicle of sorts as all the rest of the Notes seem to ride on it which in the end is almost but not quite a sort of saving grace for this jammy, fruit forward wine. Topping all this off are light Mid-Palate Notes of Toast & Tobacco. Both of these Notes shine through very nicely and are also a prominent part of why this wine excels to the point in which it does. There is an intensity to the wine as it harnesses all of its flavors in order to present to you everything it can.
Alright folks, so we are at the conclusion paragraph of this review. I have to begin here by coming back to my warning that this wine is big time fruit-forward & jammy? Normally, this would immediately kill a red wine for me but in this particular case, I sort of don't mind it. The wine has a lot to offer in the way of a decent level of complexity and that certainly helps. The wine brings a richness along with it but certainly has more than enough to elevate it beyond the usual fruit forward & jammy red which is so very common today. Folks, the wine is juicy, semi-complex and lush,
all at the same time. It is hard for me to rate this wine as I am
normally very hard on these types of wine as I find most of these types
of wine really have noting going for them but in this case, this is not
your normal wine. The wine manages to pull it out though but overall
this is one of those wine where I am going to give it two ratings. On
The Desert Wine Guy rating scale, I am giving this wine 90 points BUT I
can certainly see the newer generation of Cabernet Sauvignon lovers
giving it 93 points so take your pick as Old School says 90, New School
says 93
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The Desert Wine Guy
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