2009 Cigar Box Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon

First of all, this wine may be the perfect reason for us to actually regulate the term "reserve" on a wine bottle. I just find it a little weird that a $13 bottle of wine from Chile, that is obviously marketed heavily upon the label, can be termed as a reserve selection. I mean....do they even have a non-reserve Cabernet??

Anyways, I'll try to keep my labeling bias away from how the actual wine tastes!

Like I'm mentioned previously, this wine is from Chile's Valle Central D.O. and as far as I know it's 100% Cabernet. The website didn't offer any specific information on the barrel regimen nor the exact varietal breakdown. Once again, this wine is obviously marketed on having a bottle called "CIGAR BOX", and not so much on the actually juice in the bottle.

On the nose I get aromas of blackberry, green bell pepper, cedar, and some dirty smelling soil. It really quite honestly smells a bit cheap and vegetal.

On the palate I get flavors of cherry, red raspberry, dried herbs, cedar and just a touch of earth. It's quite light and finishes with a touch of bitterness and alcohol.

I definitely have had worse wines than this, however I have tasted literally hundreds of wines for half this price that show much more quality. It's quite simply just a gimmick wine and really doesn't fall into the fine wine category. 78 points

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