Cabernet Sauvignon from a valley north of San Francisco tends to be pretty pricey if you’re looking for a cellarable bottle or something for a special occasion. But not if that bottle happens to be from the Alexander Valley, a valley located just above Napa and Sonoma that tends to fly under the radar, yet produces stunning bottles of wine that can often be more than half the price of what you’d pay in the glitzier regions with their more expensive cost of land.
One of those bottles is the Simi Landslide Cabernet, a dark, dense and delicious bottle of wine that truly delivers. A rich aroma of red fruit on the nose combines with scents of chocolate, spice and blackberries. On the palate, this wine is well rounded mouthfeel, with flavors of cranberries and cherries mixed with oak and spice. Pulling the wine together is a balanced play between tannin and acidity.
Showing youth when you first pop the cork, this is a wine that could use thirty minutes in the decanter to really show what it’s got, but after you pour a small glass for yourself, of course.
This is the type of bottle that’s great to drink now, but that could also age for five to ten years if you wanted. It’s a wine that’d be great with a hearty, meat based meal, but that would also stand up well to a vegetarian chili or hard, full-flavored cheeses.
