Beringer Knights Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2018 (SKU 352583, $45.99 tax included)
I saw my usual favourite U.S. cabernet sauvignon at the liquor store on sale this month, so I took one bottle home to taste it. My executive chef happened to prepare some hamburger for dinner. I was slightly surprise as hamburgers were not on our usual dinner menu. But as luck would have it, the wine and the food were a match made in heaven. The hamburger was The Keg Prime Rib beef burger from Costco. When I first tasted the wine, I was met with some dark fruits on the nose and the palate. There was a slight bitter aftertaste with a hint of licorice. With the burger, the character of the wine changed completely. The palate was full of jammy fruits, more like an Australian Shiraz and the aftertaste was fruit. The finish was long and satisfying. As I indicated, this wine always tasted better than the ratings and almost tasted like a reserve level wine. It was unusual that it was produced from grapes from the Sonoma Valley, usually lower quality than its Napa cousins. But the offering from Beringer's Knights Valley seemed to be the exception and was very enjoyable. There was no Wine Spectator rating at the time of writing but I would not be surprised if the eventual rating would be 90 points. It is on sale at $7 off for the month of December. For your Christmas and New Year steak dinner, you cannot go wrong with this wine. There is ample supply in all of the LDB stores.
