Wine Rack Store Blog

A heated debate arose during dinner last night: Does cheap, errr..excuse me, inexpensive wine taste just as good as more costly wine? I’ll admit, I am a bit of a wine snob (albeit an economically challenged wine snob), so my bet was on the higher priced choice. My dinner partner and I became so involved in the argument, we could not even get to the food! The only solution was to do a blind taste test. I headed to my wine tasting table to set it up. The wines in competition were 2007 Delicato Cabernet Sauvignon at $4.99 per bottle, and a 2006 Sagelands Cabernet Sauvignon at $12.99 per bottle. Each of us poured samples for the other, in order to keep it blind, and the tasting commenced!

Each glass presented well, with beautiful colors swirling in it’s Silver Grape Wine Charmed glass, however it was apparent, at one glance, which was which. I vowed to not let my no-longer-blind self be influenced by knowing, and proceeded to let each wine stand on it’s own merit without regard to price.

Of course, I was right! The Sagelands won, hand’s down, but the Delicato was surprisingly drinkable for a rock bottom price. Below are my notes:

Delicato: This wine had a pretty, bright ruby color, but it was rather thin and transparent. The fresh fruity bouquet was pleasing, but lacked depth. On the palette, the wine matched to color and bouquet. Although it was bright and fruity, there was no depth and no finish. I would merrily slurp down a glass of Delicato, if I had to.

Sagelands: This wine had a deeper ruby color, and when swirled it’s legs resembled Giselle on the catwalk. The bouquet was richer than the Delicato, with promises of flavor and finish. On the palate, the Sagelands boasted raspberry and pepper with a short, tart finish. This wine met my minimum enjoyment standards much better than the other.

After the tasting, with two 1/2 bottles left, we decided to meet in the middle: we joined the two bottles and created our own wine! I like to call it, “Sagelicato”. YUM

Labels: cabernet sauvignon, delicato, economically challenged, grape wine charms, sagelands, wine snob, wine tasting table