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The Under $15 Cabernet Sauvignon Suggestions from 10 Local Wine Shops

On 10/13/06 eleven tasters gathered in Edina to sample 11 Under $15 Suggestions from Local Wine Shops and Wineglas.

The ten shops I selected for this particular tasting were:

Trader Joe's (St. Louis Park)

MGM (Bloomington)

Sam's Club (St. Louis Park)

Winestreet Spirits (Bloomington)

Haskell's (Bloomington)

Surdyk's(Minneapolis)

France 44 (Minneapolis)

Edina Municipal Liquor Store (100/ Vernon)

Winestyles (St. Louis Park)

Excelsior Vintage (Excelsior)

All wines were purchased with the requirement that they had to be cabernet sauvignon and cost under $15 (not including sales tax). I went in to each store and posed as a confused customer and wondered around the store until assistant was offered. I looked at five key areas regarding customer service: Greeting, Offer service after a few minutes, Happy to help, Explanation of the wine, and Able to offer a variety for the price point. Here are the results of each area:

Greeting

The first area I looked at was did they greet me as I entered the store? Only 4/10 greeted me as I entered the store with two standouts which were Winestyles and Excelsior Vintage which were both excited that I came into their store.

Offering Service

I tried to look clueless and walked up and down isles repeatedly. Only 4/10 stores offered service either right away or after three minutes. Some stores I believe I could have covered a mile before someone would have helped me. Winestyles seemed to be the most willing to talk about their wines with Excelsior Vintage following close behind. Once three plus minutes expired I asked for help.

Happy to Help

Just one out of ten shops had an employee that was not happy to help who quickly made me follow him and he said buy this one. The rest of the stores had employees who were happy to help.

Explanation of the Wines

Wine shops should train employees by having them sample the wines so they can help you make better selections. If they just point to one wine and say here you go they are trying to get you out of the store as quick as possible. Only 6/10 shops explained the wine with an average or better degree of skill.

My favorite comment in this section was an employee who suggested a wine because she heard Napa Valley made some good wines. Another shop explained that the customers were buying up the wine but said she had never tried it.

The best explanation was at France 44 offering at least six different wines at various price points. The Excelsior Vintage was second best in this category and asked what type of meal I was preparing. Trader Joe's also spent some time going through different wines they sold to find a good fit.

Variety of Offerings at Different Prices

If someone shows you around different regions of the world under the price point you stated then that means they have been trained to some degree. Only 5/10 shops offered a variety of wines at different price points. Some just said buy this one!

Trader Joe's offered a few bottles at $7 which they said they enjoyed. Half of the shops tried to recommend the wine at $14.99.

Overall Impressions of the Five Categories

Each wine shop got a yes or no in the slot for the five categories.

1. Excelsior Vintage 5/5

2. Winestyles 4/5

3. France 44 3/5

Note: Three other stores got 3/5 but did not offer the experience of France 44.

Summary of the Data

The data above illustrates that a few shops have attempted to make the experience enjoyable but ultimately the recommendation needs to be good. There was no direct correlation between good customer service and a quality recommendation.

Wines Reviewed and Rated

All wines were rated using my Official Wine Rating Sheeting. Again they were all served blind and to spice things up I inserted a 2001 Columbia Crest Grand Estates which was purchased for $7.69. Two shops did recommend the same wine the 2003 Louis M. Martini which I allowed as I took their first selection they offered. Both scored within a few points and Bottle Variation was probably evident as one scored lower. Not all bottles taste the same when it comes to wine and there are several reasons for that most notable storage and shipping conditions.

The one wine which stood out for me was the 2004 Red Knot Mc Laren Vale Cabernet which had a nice mix of earth elements without a detectable flaw. At $10.22 it was the cheapest except for the Columbia Crest. The rest of the wines were not impressive and had detectable flaws. Second place went to 2003 Louis M. Martini (81 points) followed by the 2001 Hogue Genesis at (80 points).

For my selection the 2001 Columbia Crest Grand Estates finished fifth but did receive the 2 highest ratings of the night at 95 and 91 respectively. I did not rate it as I detected a slight flaw in the bottle. The other wine which no one rated was the 2004 Casa Lapostolle which was corked (see reviews below for the definition of corked).

The wines are placed in order of the group average. My score is first, then the group average and price. I only included the wine shop of the top three suggestions.

1. Red Knot Cabernet Mc Laren Vale, Australia (Sam's Club)

Vintage: 2004

Color: Dark purple

Nose: Bold wine with eucalyptus, pepper and cherry (almost a shiraz nose)

Taste/ Palate: Pepper and earth

Finish: Solid medium finish with earth and pepper dominating

Evaluation: A great wine with a complex nose. Everything is in balance and should be a crowd pleaser at a party or wedding. 89 points+ (Group average 85.6 $10.22)

2. Alexander Valley Cabernet Alexander Valley, California (MGM)

Vintage: 2002

Color: dark purple

Nose: Pepper and tobacco

Taste/ Palate: Earthiness and water

Finish: Flattened out quickly

Evaluation: Fell apart quickly. 76 (Group average 84.5 $16.34)

3. Louis M. Martini Cabernet Sonoma, California (Wine Street)

Vintage: 2003

Color: Dark purple

Nose: Cherry, smoke and plum

Taste/ Palate: Cherry and earth

Finish: Medium and watery elements

Evaluation: A nice wine but not incredible 81 points (Group average 83 $14.70)

3. Hogue Genesis Cabernet Columbia Valley, Washington (France 44)

Vintage: 2001

Color: Dark purple

Nose: Earth and floral notes

Taste/ Palate: Chewy, tannins, dirt, tobacco, vegetal

Finish: Medium with tobacco notes

Evaluation: An everyday drinker that probably will improve with age. The Hogue Genesis series has been a consistent producer year and year out. 80 points (Group average 83 $16.41)

5. Columbia Crest Grand Estates Cabernet Columbia Valley, Washington

Vintage: 2001

Color: Dark purple

Nose: Cherry and grape jam

Taste/ Palate: Chewy and seemed damaged

Finish: Stopped rating it.

Evaluation: I sensed something wrong on the taste and finish but it was not corked. Could have been an off bottle. NR (Group average 82.5 $7.69)

6. Louis M. Martini Cabernet Sonoma, California

Vintage: 2003

Color: Extreme purple with lots of legs

Nose: Smoke and pepper

Taste/ Palate: Water with not fruit and a little bitter

Finish: Short

Evaluation: Drinkable but would not pay $15 for this. 78 (Group average 81 $14.16)

6. Villa Mt. Eden Cabernet Napa Valley, California

Vintage: 2003

Color: Dark purple

Nose: Cherry and earth

Taste/ Palate: Water and pepper

Finish: Short and not much more then a little spice

Evaluation: An everyday wine with dinner 80 points (Group average 81 $14.16)

8. Sebastiani Cabernet Sonoma County, California

Vintage: 2004

Color: dark purple

Nose: Dark fruit

Taste/ Palate: Cherry, earth tones and very dry

Finish: Short with a touch of earth tones

Evaluation: Not much more then a one dimensional wine 78 points (Group average 80.5 $16.49)

9. McManis Cabernet Ripon, California

Vintage: 2005

Color: Medium purple

Nose: Cherry, raspberry

Taste/ Palate: Earth, very dry with acidic qualities

Finish: Very short with nothing notable

Evaluation: 78 points (Group average 78.5 $14.80)

10. De Loach Cabernet Russian River Valley, California

Vintage: 2000

Color: Medium purple

Nose: Higher alcohol and earth

Taste/ Palate: Tobacco, water texture, no fruit, bitter

Finish: Short

Evaluation: Not a well made wine from 76 points (Group average 78 $14.29)

11. Casa Lapostolle Cabernet Rapel Valley, Chile

Corked

Vintage: 2004

Color:

Nose:

Taste/ Palate:

Finish:

Evaluation:

Note: When you pour a wine and it smells and tastes like wet cardboard the wine is deemed corked and should be returned. The cork has infected with containments and can make you sick if consuming the bottle. There will be no detectable fruit notes in a corked wine. About one in 12 bottles will be corked on average.

Summary:

The following experiment was not intended to rate one shop best but shows the different experiences that are present when purchasing wine. Here are a few tips in finding a good wine shop:

1. Closest is not always best.

2. Ask with confidence when desiring a recommendation. Tell the staff you want the best cabernet for $10. It also helps to know ahead if you like fruit forward or earth toned wines.

3. Don't assume one bad recommendation is the end for that wine shop. Some of the shops above have given me poor recommendations and followed it up with some of the better wines I have tried this year. Yes even I ask for recommendations as their are millions of wines out there.

4. It doesn't hurt to take some classes (See the Host a Tasting Section for more information on my classes).

5. Read my reviews and try a few out to see if your palate matches up with mine. I study the best reviewers in the world and I agree and disagree about an equal number of times with their reviews.