Wine of the Week: Santa Julia Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva

Wine: Santa Julia Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva

Grape: Cabernet Sauvignon

Region: Mendoza, Argentina

Vintage: 2010

Price: $9.99

Availability: Lee’s Discount Liquor

In the glass: Santa Julia Cabernet Sauvignon is a deeply opaque garnet-red color with a dense core going out into a saturated crimson, light-garnet-red rim definition with medium-high viscosity.

On the nose: This wine comes right at you, showing concentrated black currant fruit, creme de cassis, eucalyptus leaves, boysenberry sorbet, vanilla, creme brulee, new oak references, violet pastilles and phenolics.

On the palate: The inside of the mouth is entirely coated with a serious amount of highly extracted, yet balanced, black cassis fruit, smashed black currants, brambleberries, cocoa butter and soft vanilla. The midpalate eases up on the fine fruit characteristics and reveals good complexity with supple tannins, a bit of acidity and minerality, and even that unmistakable underlying vertesse, going into the typical South American finish, which is slightly short, but utterly pleasant, especially for being from the land of malbec. It’s a nicely crafted wine from Santa Julia.

Odds and ends: Without a question, this is the most elaborately packaged wine for less than $50. The exclusive-looking bottle is contained in a gift tin, not unlike a fairly expensive single malt Scotch whisky. That makes it a top candidate for gift-giving. I can’t remember the last time I found a decent cabernet sauvignon from Argentina. It’s usually their malbecs that are outstanding, but breaking that tradition, Santa Julia comes in and overachieves. The winery operation is one of the youngest and now largest in Argentina, having been founded only in the early 1990s by Jose Zuccardi and named in honor of his only daughter, Julia. The company makes a wide range of wines from organically farmed and sustainably grown vines and is very environmentally conscious. Perfectly well-priced at less than $10, this is yet another summer red blockbuster wine to try, and I promise I’ll get back to something light and white soon. Drink it with grilled lamb chops simply rubbed with salt and pepper. This perfectly mature wine is good now through 2017.

Gil Lempert-Schwarz’s wine column appears Wednesdays. Write him at P.O. Box 50749, Henderson, NV 89106-0749, or email him at gil@winevegas.com.