| Another nice Napa Cab. The wine has by now lost the purple blush of youth and presents a healthy red color. The aroma is, well the best I could come up with is "warm"--it offers some spice and some fruit, but is at its heart just a welcoming smell. The taste is a mirror image of the aroma--lots of fruit wrapped in a peppery envelope. The taste is not overly complex--it is quite medium-bodied and straightforward, and while I found this a nice change for tonight's meal, I don't think this sentiment would hold up if I chose to buy an entire case. There is a nice, crisp acidity and a good, yielding tannic structure. I think a year or two would do this wine quite a bit of good.
In short, a fine wine, probably worth the $16 cost, but not a superb one. It went (surprisingly) quite well with the tomato sauce, which suggests it might be a good all-purpose, near-fancy red.
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