Layer Cake Cabernet Sauvignon, Vintage 2009, $16.99

OK. Much like the New Yorkers, when the threat of Hurricane Irene hits, I make sure I have booze. I like my wine, the NY-ers like vodka. It doesn't matter what you're drinking, though, as long as you like it & have enough of it.

I bought this wine yesterday. Yes, it's another Layer Cake wine, but like I mentioned in my last posting, I like Layer Cake. And I was so excited when I checked out their website b/c I didn't realize they made a cab. I've had their shiraz, their malbec, their primitivo (better known as zinfandel), and now their chardonnay. This? I like cab best of all, so I can't wait to try it.

I've opened this wine at my parents' "compound" (so named b/c they have back-up generators, extra beds & a three-car brick garage attached to their brick home). Since my entire extended family is here, I needed a strong wine to make it through the next couple of days.

The alcohol is prominent on the nose! Not surprising, especially since this wine contains a 14.1% alcohol content. (So it's not vodka. Close enough.) I truly get an alcohol burn in my nostrils at the tail end of the sniff. Otherwise, the nose is very, very tight - it smells like tannins, dark & bitter. The legs are long & beautiful down the side of the glass.

BOOM!

This might be the best young cab I've ever tried, and I don't make that comment lightly. The first thing that hits me is that it's smooth. The mouthfeel (...) is absolutely incredible! It is so easy & silky on my palate and tongue, it's like drinking wine-flavored water.

Much like the scents on the nose, the flavors on the palate are tight - almost too tight to discern. There is a dull chocolate component on the palate, not dark like an enjoyable Hershey's Special Dark miniature - one of my personal favorite things in life - but more dark like Lindt's Excellence 99% Cocoa Bar (http://www.lindtusa.com/product-exec/product_id/41/category_id/5/nm/Excellence_99_Cocoa_Bar), which is an ashy, dry, smoky pure-chocolate bar. The tannins exhibit a buttery, aged-in-oak flavor, almost as if this cab was a sibling to the chardonnay. The finish is a few seconds long, but mellow & satisfying.

I truly believe that this cab rivals the $70 cabernet from Cakebread Cellars, but at a much better price point. If you, my readers, enjoy a well-crafted cabernet sauvignon at a reasonable price, this one is it. This is my hurricane gift to you. Irene will be best remembered for Layer Cake's cab!

Cheers!

Kate