LCBO Sale Wine of the Week: December 20

Santa Rita 2016 Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon (Maipo, Chile)

Sale $12.95, Regular $14.95
Discount (until December 31): $2.00
LCBO #253872 | 750 mL bottle

Tastes like: Exactly what you’d expect from Maipo Cab Sauv: blackberry, plum, mint and assorted herbs, plus a dose of chocolate and oak spice.
Pairs with: Big meats, steak especially, but will go nice with a prime rib or lamb roast, heavy on the jus.
Good for: Christmas Eve drop-ins with a plate of charcuterie, assorted meats, or some tourtière.
Alcohol: 13.5%
Drink: Now through 2020.

Why we're drinking this
Cabernet Sauvignon from the Maipo Valley in Chile is one of those specific taste profiles you can easily identify with a bit of practice. It’s lean but generous, focused on the fruit but with lots of interesting herbal character, usually led by a mint-menthol angle. It’s one of the easiest Cab Sauv styles to like, particularly because there’s usually a fair amount of chocolate-vanilla and oak spice. Santa Rita does it right, and does it right year after year. This 2016 vintage is particularly good.

Tasting note
Generous nose of plum, blackberry and mint, with pretty floral tones. Very dry but a fairly easy attack on the palate, melding into a soft and pleasurable blend of blackberries and plum, with nice backup by those herbal tones. Tannins are present but ripe and quite easygoing, with vibrant acidity that gets you tingling just a little bit. A very nice wine for every segment of your evening. And a great wine to have on hand in quantity, should you need to deal with Christmas drop-ins or lingering guests. Great with all kinds of meaty dishes but a fine sipper too.

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