Avalon Napa Valley 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon

I haven’t been able to get over to Grapevine’s Friday Night Fights in the last couple weeks. Maybe next week. They should be getting into the winning brackets (of Cab Sauv under $20) by now and so they’ll be pairing off the best of the bunch.

Meanwhile, motivated by those tastings though, I independently happened across this Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon at a very reasonable price. Avalon does only Cabernet Sauvignons, and only two: the “Avalon California” and this one, the “Avalon Napa Valley”. I haven’t seen the former. I could just be being suckered by good marketing, but I like the attitude of their catchphrases: “Napa Cab without the pretense”, and “Cabernet worthy of kings, priced for peasants”. 

This 2002 wine is made from 90% Cab Sauv, 4% Syrah, 2.5% Petite Verdot, 2% Merlot and .5% Cab Franc. Aged for a year in French and American oak. They go on to identify the breakdown of where it comes from as well: 58% Rutherford, 13% Napa, 5% Oakville, 5% St. Helena, 4% Spring Mountain and 15% “Other”.

I thought this was very good. It’s a very fruity wine with soft tannins. The oak rounds it out nicely and it gave me a bit of leather scents. Long finish. Compared to the Casa Madero earlier this week, this had less structure, more fruit. Both are good values and nice finds.

Price

$11.99 (Austin)

Overall

 Very good. Fruity taste and soft tannins make this great drinking just by itself. Seconds please.

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