Good Morning Gentle Readers,
For a screw top wine, this one is pretty drinkable. It is a Monterrey County wine brought to market by importer Vino del Sol, an outfit that specializes in Californicate, Chile, Argentina, and New Zealand wines as well as Japanese craft beers. Vino del Sol's wineries produce wines that are all estate grown, on family farms that strive for harmony with the environment.
The name, Formation, refers to to geologic formations of the Monterey County region that were formed many millions of years ago. The ancient marine layers and alluvial soils are a result of the primordial sea and shallow coral beds over oceanic volcanic crust.
Winemaker's Notes:
A very approachable Cab with concentrated flavors of blackberries and raspberry jam with notes of wood spice. A great combination of power and elegance, structure and finesse.
Approachable means drinkable to me. Just wine jargon, so let's dispense with it. Long time readers know I have two peeves. Too much oak and that cloying off-sweet taste that is euphemistically referred to as cherries. This wine is good on the oak but it narrowly misses the off-sweet cloying cherry thing. It gets right up to it and runs away. Good thing.
You'll find it at Cost Plus for around $12.00 US. $14.00 elsewhere. On TWC's price value scale, I'd say it rates a -20%. That means it is a solid $8.00-$10.00 wine.
As Ever,
TWC
Photo Credit (unless otherwise noted): ©TWC, all rights reserved
