Wednesday, November 28, 2007

ALEXANDER & FITCH CABERNET SAUVIGNON



Hello,

The 2005 Alexander & Fitch Winery Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is a bit of an anomaly. I get it at Trader Joe's for $5.99 - and I have not seen it anywhere else, although one wine blog I saw did mention that it was otherwise available, but did not indicate where.

The few reviews of this wine that I could find ranged from very positive to very negative. I my recent ratings of the Top Ten Everyday Reds, I had it at #10. Actually, since then, I would move it up the list a bit.

The wine is of mysterious provenance if you go by what is on the bottle - no contact information. Apparently, it is made by Bronco wines, a purveyor of "manufactured" wines and a provider of a number of wines found at Trader Joe's. Regardless, Dorianne and I drink it quite often and find it to be a nice everyday red for an amazing price.

There is no doubt that it is not a high-end wine in any sense of the world. That being said, it does have a nice cherry nose and soft fruit flavors - mainly berry, with a hint of leather that might be called terroir in a more expensive wine. The tannins are balanced and it has a relatively low alcohol percentage (13.6) for a California Cabernet.

Naturally, all wine tasting is subjective - so you may or may not like Alexander & Fitch. My recommendation is to try a bottle - at this price, you can just use it for cooking if you do not find it to your taste.

'Till Next Time,

The Wine Saver



10 comments:

CJ said...

Thank you for the information...we stumbled upon Alexander & Fitch at Trader Joe's and haven't been disappointed. We searched online for an actual "winery" to no avail. Someone has us satisfactorily duped into imbibing their reasonbly priced mystery wine. Good stuff for the price -certainly. Nice blog.

Unknown said...

Look at the first 6 digits of the UPC (bar code), 081054 equals Bronco Winery.

The Dreamer said...

I also stumbled upon this wine at Trader Joe's and have become quite a fan of it. Great price and it does have a pretty nice taste to it as well.

Just found this blog! Great find!

Unknown said...

Actually, I tried 3 Trader Joes' and they were out of stock and did not know when they would have some in. The guy at TJs' said whenever thay get some in, it is purchased very quickly. So if anyone has any ideas, please post. thanks

Anonymous said...

It's back, Trader Joe's has the 2007 Cabernet in stock.

wino said...

Believe it or not the maker of this wine is the same maker of Two Buck Chuck. He winery is Bronco Winery and his name is Franzia.. It's outstanding for $6.99 and drinks like a $20.00 bottle. I just read an article by a CNN reporter that says he purchased the grapes for A & F in Napa near or at a winery that sells wine for $60.00/bottle.. Trader Joes has it again ..2007... Go now ...You won't be sorry...

Rebecca Gomez Farrell said...

I just quoted your review of this wine on my own blog site. I agree with you, though I think I found it a bit more of a value than you did. It seemed to change to me as I drank it, which was fun.

Piero said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Piero said...

Unfortunately I cannot share the high appraisal of this wine.

I opened a bottle with four friends recently (the Alexander valley Cab 2008) and all four of us notice an acrid taste, followed by a really acidic profile, and then we all got sick.

my Wife and I in particular, were sick well into the late night, and I'll spare you the details of what that involved.

I won't buy this wine again, an am wondering if maybe I got a "bad" bottle" or something.
I am emailing the winery today to tell them the same.

adri23 said...

I heard that this wine is overstock of silver oak $80 bottle of wone, love it!