Man, this weekend was amazing. On Saturday my wife and I joined her family for an amazing concert under the stars at Los Angeles’ Greek Theatre. Gathered together we watched the one and only Neil Diamond celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the legendary Hot August Nights recording that many say made him a household name. Neil was amazing, and the night was truly awesome.
Nearing the completion of his set Neil busted out a song many would be surprised to learn he first made famous – Red Red Wine. As 5,000 of my closest friends sang aloud the sirens call “red red wine, stay close to me…” I realized it was long past time for the Cork Scrooge to get back to it. So, in the immortal words of Mr. Diamond, “Hello Again” my friends – it’s time for some great red wine.
This week’s wine hails from the famous Australian wine region Coonawarra. According to the great folks over at coonawarra.org, this well regarded region is “renowned as one of Australia’s finest wine regions and is particularly known for producing world class red wines especially Cabernet Sauvignon. Its secret lies in a magical marriage of rich red terra rossa soil, limestone, pure underground water and a long cool ripening season for the grapes.”
The long cool season played a particularly potent role in producing the 2010 “Cover Drive” Cabernet Sauvignon by the wine makers from Jim Barry Wines. I picked up this bottle earlier this week during a visit to Costco for less than $14 and found myself immediately taken in by the smooth “easy” drinkability of the wine right from the “corking” (I say “corking” because like most Aussie cabs this bottle simply called for a flick of the wrist to spin the cap off). This wine was incredibly smooth with subtle hints of cherry and licorice filling out each glass. My fellow taster for this bottle described the wine as having a “sophisticated bitterness” – a sensation that your taste buds want to diagnose and truly enjoy.
I thought this wine was best straight from the bottle the moment we cracked the cap. It held together throughout the hour or so long tasting and was a very nice accompaniment to the fresh vegetable and turkey ragout pasta dish we had prepared. For around $14 this is a fun and entirely approachable cabernet that most any red wine fan will enjoy.
– dallas lawrence
The Cork Scrooge 
That is one cool bottle for sure!
By: the winegetter on August 20, 2012
at 12:56 pm