Bonterra Vineyards 2003 Cabernet

Roughly translated, I believe that "bonterra" means "good land" which is an apt name for an organic vineyard. Organic wine is gaining in popularity, yet the organic wine I tried prior to this one tasted like dirt. This wine, however, did not.

I was really impressed with this big red cabernet. It was incredibly smooth, and could stand up to the pizza and gaspacho that we had with it for dinner. The wine is blended with syrah, which isn't the usual choice for a blending grape in a cabernet. The syrah gives it a bit of extra spice that the wine wouldn't have if it were blended with merlot, the usual choice. According to the winemaker's notes, the wine was aged for 17 months in French and American medium toast oak. It's a smooth rich wine that I believe would go equally well with pizza as it would with a steak, or a piece of chocolate.

We've been told by our friends Scott and Janet, that they've noticed that California Cabernets from 2003 are particularly good, and I have to agree. This wine, from Mendocino, CA, is no exception to that rule.