Always on the lookout for great Cabernet bargains, we found a winner in this Santa Barbara gem. Highly recommended for everyday drinking.Tasting Notes: Layered with notes of black currant, spearmint, bacon and smoked cedar planks, this wine seems to change almost by the second. It is plush, both in aromatics and in mouth-feel, with blueberry, violets, kirsch and creme de cassis joining notes of tobacco and cola. A truly Californian Claret. About: Field Recordings is the moonlighting side project for up-and-coming young winemaker Andrew Jones, whose days are taken up with his job as a vine nursery field operative. Fortunately, his job takes Jones to vineyards all over California, where he helps growers decide the best grapes and clones to plant. Jones leverages his expertise, access and connections to buy choice fruit from treasured sites, especially in California’s Central Coast. In 2013, a perfect growing season and a little luck meant that Jones was able to pick the Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot for this wine at the same time and ferment them together. Petit Verdot is a traditional blending grape in Bordeaux, where it’s used to add inky color and fragrance to wines based on Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. It’s rare that it ripens at the same time as Cabernet; usually the grapes are picked and fermented separately and then blended before aging. The fruit comes from the Grassini Vineyard, located in the tiny Happy Canyon wine region. Located on the eastern edge of Santa Barbara County, Happy Canyon’s relatively warm days make it a top spot for Bordeaux grapes.
Lauren Vance
Buyer Whole Foods Market Oakland
Ripe, silky layers of black currant and blueberry. Bacon fat and sweet mint. Super juicy and decadent.
Ripe, silky layers of black currant and blueberry. Bacon fat and sweet mint. Super juicy and decadent.
9.0Matt Sterr
Well this is certainly a ridiculous value. Great fruit on a silky body.
Well this is certainly a ridiculous value. Great fruit on a silky body.
9.2Zach Cherry
Account Manager Worldwide Wine & Spirits
A bit tired.
A bit tired.
8.8Rhonda Stone
This cabernet sauvignon, recommended by Belinda, is very full bodied with songs tannins, but enjoyably drinkable now. It's very elegant, with it definitely not being a fruit bomb, and has a palate of a more expensive wine than the $18 Lukas is charging for it.
This cabernet sauvignon, recommended by Belinda, is very full bodied with songs tannins, but enjoyably drinkable now. It's very elegant, with it definitely not being a fruit bomb, and has a palate of a more expensive wine than the $18 Lukas is charging for it.
8.9Mark Stone
Very nice
Very nice
8.8Tim Wrye
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas!
9.6Patrick Peters
Really rich wine! Hints of blueberry and currant. Lots of legs and just overall great!
Really rich wine! Hints of blueberry and currant. Lots of legs and just overall great!
9.4Caitlin Laga
Fruit forward.
Fruit forward.
9.6Albert Phelps
2013 is delicious. Mild, good flavor, robust but not overpowering.
2013 is delicious. Mild, good flavor, robust but not overpowering.
9.4WARNING: DRINKING DISTILLED SPIRITS, BEER, COOLERS, WINE AND OTHER ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES MAY INCREASE CANCER RISK, AND, DURING PREGNANCY, CAN CAUSE BIRTH DEFECTS.