CorkTale | Wine Reviews

This Cabernet Sauvignon wine review begins as so many wine reviews begin; at a wine tasting.

After seeing the brochure in the local weekly newspaper, I knew I had to be there. She would be there, and I wasn't going to miss out of the opportunity to show her how my taste in wine had grown.

It was three weeks ago that we went on our third date. At Chateau La Poire, the hottest French restaurant in town, I ordered the wine without much thought. Little did I know that ordering a Chardonnay with steak was a faux pax.

How was I to know that she would review my wine selection so harshly? How was I supposed to know that she loved wine, and completely turned up her nose at my selection? Our previous two dates went very well. There was chemistry, there was lust, there was passion and excitement.

As soon as I ordered the Chardonnay with my steak however, there was a problem. She excused herself from the table, walked toward the bathroom, and then immediately made for the door. She left me high and dry there at that restaurant to review my wine selection by myself.

This was my chance to redeem myself. I read many Corktales, wine reviews, information on wine, and anything else I could get my hands on. The last three weeks had been spent nursing hangovers from all the wine I had been drinking. There was nothing I didn't understand about wine.

The wine's vanilla overtones helped the 2006 Horse Heaven Hills Cabernet Sauvignon from Columbia Crest greet her nose warmly. This relatively intense wine met her eagerly, and with some strength. She tried to process the flavors in her wine, but its relatively low complexity only gave her hints of oak, cherry, and other red berries. Low acidity and medium tannins made this wine a pleasant drink before her meal, but she knew the seasoned sirloin would pair fairly well with it. Overall she was pleased with the wine, and at this price, it was a decent option before and during a meal.

The problem however, wasn't with the wine. It was with her company. She was finding it nearly impossible to concentrate on this surprising wine as her "blind date" sat across from her in the busy Manhattan restaurant. He had spent the first 15 minutes of their date talking about how great his 70 hour a week job at the bank was.

"So, how much money do you make?" he asked bluntly. She closed her eyes and tried to picture a horse riding down from the hills, just as the wine was named, to take her to heaven.
"I made a $40,000 bonus last year," he chimed in before she could even respond.

She wondered why the men she dated were so full of themselves. Was it her outlook on life? was she attracting this type of guy because of an image she put off? These questions kept her concerned that she was setting herself up for failure with relationships.

All she really was after was a down to earth man who enjoyed a silky, oak barreled Cabernet Sauvignon as much as she did. This guy was obviously more impressed with the size of his own wallet than with the oak overtones of this Columbia Crest Cabernet Sauvignon.