Sterling Vineyards Napa Valley Cabernet

September 4, 2014

At A Glance...

Color

$$

Price

2012

Vintage

Body

Value

14.6

% Alcohol

Sterling Vineyards sources 14 diverse vineyards spanning 1200 acres in California’s Napa Valley to create their Napa Appellation Collection wines, including this Cabernet.

First thing to notice is the beautiful bottle – as more and more wineries adopt brighter, flashier colors, the simple silver on black label of this Cab stands out a bit from the crowd.

It’s not bad for $23. The 2012 vintage is full bodied and carries 14.6% alcohol by volume which adds nicely to the flavor and the finish.

In terms of color and flavor, this wine is almost a garnet color – nice rich red with hints of purple depending on the light. It has a sharp flavor marked by acidity – which the winemaker attributes to a cooler growing season.

Chad's Notes

I thought this was a decent wine for the price - not one of the best in it's range but far from being the worst.

It has an earthy aroma with a hint of sweetness. Expect a bold opening followed by a sharp, biting finish - but not a lot going in in between. There's almost a pause between the beginning and end of each sip, which I kind of liked.

Lynne's Notes

This was a fuller bodied, bolder wine, but without a lot going on for me. I didn't really get much in the way of flavors and felt like it was missing something. For me, it wasn't great, but it wasn't awful - I think the design of the wine bottle is much more appealing than what's inside unfortunately.

I've definitely had worse wines, but for $23 I was expecting a bit more. Had it been a $14-$15 bottle of wine, I would easily be less critical.

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