Bonterra Cabernet Sauvignon had mixed reviews in our house. The first exclamations that I heard while eating something for dinner were, “Gross, this tastes like olives!!!” I looked up, kind of confused, the dinner I was eating had no olives, no lingering spoiled olivey flavors in the food could be found. “This wine tastes like olives. You can have my glass.” Suddenly I had two glasses of wine in front of me as my husband settled for a beer instead. Not a bad problem if you like the wine.
I didn’t taste olives. It was a little more dry, sure, but no olive after-notes on my end. This was another lesson in my new wine drinking experience. Not everyone tastes the same things when it comes to drinking wine. Okay, there are the main notes when drinking certain grapes, but overall, it is up to personal taste when one recommends a wine. I had no problem with this wine.
What do I have to say about Bonterra? It was okay. I enjoyed it. There was nothing remarkable or wonderful like some of the last wines I’ve had. Just good. It was something that I picked out at my local liquor store because I feel bad writing about wines that aren’t accessible. (Still looking for the last one… Grumble). It is 100% organic, which I love, and it has a bird on it. (Portlandia? Anyone?)
Some things I would do differently next time?
~ Let the wine aerate for a while before drinking… it really did need some air. It was better the next day after being forgotten about and re-capped. (oops)
~Don’t pair with Chinese food.
It would have been so much better for those two things. I am sure. I’ve had wine from this company before, and it was really great. It wasn’t a bad wine, just didn’t blow my socks off this time.
If you want to give it a try, I was able to buy it for 12 dollars.
And as always, here is what the winemaker says about it:
This Cabernet offers aromas of bright cherry, currant, and raspberry with notes of toasted oak and vanilla. In the glass, you will and flavors of cherry and currant and a lingering and thoughtful finish. Good structure, a moderate weight, polished tannins and a balanced acidity promise an ever more pleasing wine to come.
You can find this on their website, and learn about their winemaking process. It’s a pretty cool read actually.
