Wine Tasting: Novinophobia Cabernet Sauvignon

Hi wine enthusiasts! 

This week I was able to host a couple friend for a wine tasting on Wednesday evening.  The wine of focus this night is a cabernet sauvignon from Novinophobia for $14.29 (caught on sale for $10.29 at Food Lion!). This winemaker is based in the United States in Parlier, California, and the vintage of this wine is 2021.

The community on Vivino rate this wine 3.5 out of 5 stars. Some reviewers note the cherry, oak, and fruity flavors of this wine, and others comment that the wine is "leathery" and lacks depth.  Overall, there are a good mix of positive and negative reviews for this wine, so if you would like to scroll through these follow the hyperlink above.

For my personal experience, I am referencing Wine Folly: Magnum Edition: The Master Guide. This is my second ever wine tasting with intent to analyze and review and wine, so I like to have a guide for what I am looking for and how to verbally communicate my experience.  Anyways, let's get to tasting!

Before I actually taste the wine, I take a few whiffs of it to introduce my senses.  Reviewing the scents on page 28 through 30 of Wine Folly, this cabernet sauvignon smells like fresh black cherry, black currants and a hint of vanilla. The hint of vanilla clues me in that this wine may have been aged in European oak barrels.  This was my first experience trying to smell individual components of a wine, so I feel I will only continue to get better.  

Novinophobia's cabernet sauvignon has a between a ruby and purple hue with a blue tint like described on page 25 of Wine Folly. A blue tint shows a lower acidity in the wine, and after tasting I felt this wine has medium acidity because it gives a slight tongue tingle. There is an initial sweetness to this wine, but a fruity sweetness rather than a sugary sweetness. It is not very drying, so I feel the tannins are low to medium. The drying sensation is felt in the middle of the mouth, so, per page 32 of Wine Folly, this means that the tannins are oak tannins and supports that this wine was aged in oak barrels. The final taste of this wine is tart, almost sour.

Page 88 in Wine Folly recommends to pair a cabernet sauvignon with grilled meats and dishes with high flavor, but we pair this wine with gluten-free chocolate chip cookies. The tart, fruity taste of the wine provides a nice, stark contrast to the sweet cookie and rich chocolate which provides a nice balance when snacking on the two together.

Overall, I rate this wine a 6/10. I like the fresh, fruity taste without being overly sweet. I liked the mild acidity and dryness, but I think I would prefer an even dryer wine.  I do agree with some of the Vivino reviews that this wine is lacking in depth. I felt it was a little watery, but that may mean it is not as full-bodied as other wines! I am still learning but am excited to try more varieties of cabernet sauvignon to compare to this tasting. Thanks for reading!