CONO SUR 05/06 VISION CABERNET SAUVIGNON

There are new faces coming from South America all the time these days and the variety and range is much greater. Today value is still a key, but instead of something that is merely ‘cheaper’ than everything else, you have wine that can compete against anything in their price range from anywhere in the world. This is the value tier in a winery where it goes from very modest (we have a 6.99/89 point Carmenere) to a $50 reserve Pinot. This one, made up of 85% Cabernet, 5% Syrah, 4% Malbec, 3% Carmenere, 2% Petit Verdot, 1% Bouchet, is an Advocate 90 and delivers round, ripe blackcurrant fruit that is pretty accessible and it’s compared in the review to the value hall-of-fame ‘74 Souverain, legendary in its day. Superlative and historical perspective aside, this is simply a great value in easy going Cabernet that has plenty of fruit and character and shows terroir, but not too much. The winery has been around wince 1993, but only started coming to the U.S. last year.