2009 Firestone Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Santa Ynez Valley

Well, the holidays are winding down, but even so there are so many wonderful blessings as part of the season, like a plethora of wonderful foods and wines!  Now, this might be a mixed blessing for you readers, since I have a lot of new wines to sample over the coming weeks and months, but I also have enough leftovers for the next two weeks!  So you'll get some nice wines to taste with me, but as for pairings, they might be a little light, at least through the middle of January!

Speaking of new wines, tonight's is one such wine, a lovely gift that was a set of three great Cabernet Sauvignons that my Aunt Janet in Las Vegas sent me for Christmas, and so tonight I am tasting the 2009 Firestone Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon from the Santa Ynez Valley, a lovely little wine producing area of Santa Barbara county.  A couple interesting trivia facts about the valley, it is home to the town of Solvang, which is a Danish community with lots of interesting shops (and wonderful bakeries and cheese shops!) that I enjoyed on my first visit to California in 1991.  A second, and less glamorous trivia fact is that the valley was the setting for that horrific movie "Sideways" that to this day is convincing wine drinkers to avoid Merlot!  But enough trivia, let's get to the good stuff!

The wine is a lovely deep, inky purple in the glass, and I've given it a good 15 minutes to open up a bit, as the first impression on pouring was that it was quite tight.  Having let it breathe a bit, the nose really presents a lovely combination of leather, sweet berries, vanilla and baking spice that suggests you're in for a treat.  The taste is somewhat fruity, with ripe plums and berries on the front, leading to some cherry cola notes midpalate.  The finish is fairly dry, but uneventful (so I guess that would be very smooth, but short).

Overall, I would rate this wine a 7.5, it's certainly a pleasure to drink, but based on the aromas I was expecting a little more from it.  As for pairings, here's your opportunity for disappointment, as I am enjoying this wine with some leftover Chinese food!  享受!