Tasting Note Tuesday - 2007 McManis Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon

I thought it would be fun to do a weekly tasting note on a wine (or three) that I've recently had. This way, readers can check-in to see if I've found a wine worth 'buzzing' about... or whether I got 'stung' by a recent purchase. And if I've found something good, hopefully it'll give you enough time to try and track down a bottle that you can enjoy over the weekend (Or week night. Heck, every night can be wine night!!!). So, without further ado, we give you... Tasting Note Tuesday!! And if you've got a wine you're just dining for me to try, shoot me an email at ratherBEEbuzzed@gmail.com.


2007 McManis Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon - USA, California

On my never-ending quest to find delicious, but inexpensive wine, I've been scoping out a lot of the 2007 wines from California (hence my last review on the 2007 Grayson Pinot Noir). 2007 is the vintage currently on shelves in most wine stores, and California had a really good year (it's best overall year since 2003). And while you'll hear some of the wine "snobs" complain that it's too soon to be drinking '07's, most wine in the world is meant for immediate consumption... especially a lot of the inexpensive stuff I'll be reviewing. This all led me to the 2007 McManis Family Cab.

McManis Family Vineyards has been making wine near Lodi, CA since 1990... but they have been farmers in the area since 1938!!! They source fruit from all over California for their broad lineup of 9 different wines.

My Thoughts: Now this was interesting... I've had wines that have an enjoyable nose, but don't give much on the palate. This may be the first time I've ever had the opposite... not much on the nose, all on the palate. And unfortunately, most of it is hidden behind the oak. What little I can pick up on the nose is all oak/butter/vanilla and a small hint of black cherry. Thankfully, on the tongue there are some nice blueberry and cherry notes. But again, the oak takes center stage... at least it gives the fruit notes a sweet side (oak generally gives wine a vanilla, butter, toffee, butterscotch scent/taste). I think this wine is a little heavy-handed on the oak, which is too bad because there are some nice darker fruit notes that are masked. If there was less of an oak influence, I probably would have rated this Very Good. But as is, it's a little out of balance.

Rating: Good

Retails: $9.99