Varietal: Â Cabernet Sauvignon
Region: Â Sonoma, CA – USA
Cost: Â ~$9
Winemaker’s Notes:  This cabernet has a little swagger. Fruit-forward and juicy, tastes like ripe plums with a hint of toasty oak. The perfect grilling mate.
My Review: Â I like a wine that provides good value, which for me typically means coming across as a much more expensive wine than what I paid for it. The 2011 Wily Jack Cabernet Sauvignon is not one of those wines.
During a recent grocery store trip my wife walked past the wine aisle and saw the Wily Jack on sale for less than $4 with an original list price of around $12. She, like me, is always looking for a good value, so she grabbed it and brought it home for us to share.
In the glass the wine was dark, with streaks of purple throughout. On the nose I picked up fruit notes that carried through to the palate. I’d hoped the wine wouldn’t be a complete fruit bomb, and while it did avoid that status just barely, with some oak making a showing, it was still very fruit forward and typical of what most people think of when it comes to budget California Cabernet.
For a roughly $3 this wasn’t terrible, but had we paid the $12 it was originally listed at in the store, I think I’d have been more than a little annoyed, since I know I can get better wine for the same price or a few dollars more. As a second or third bottle it’s funtional, but all in all, unless you’re just buying it for the label or the funny name, spend your wine dollars on other wines.
