Sutter Home Cabernet Sauvignon 2008

I'm slowly working my way through all twelve of the Sutter Home table wine varietals. This time, it's the Sutter Home Cabernet Sauvignon 2007. The wine is a deep red, with ruby highlights, and a definite fruity Cabernet Sauvignon aroma, that's a bit of a cross between plum and cherry. It's middle-of-the-road Cabernet Sauvignon, lighter and more fruity than my favorite California table wine Cabernet Sauvignon, from Meridian. This Sutter Home Cabernet Sauvignon is rounder, with less of a edge from the tannin. The Sutter Home Cabernet Sauvignon is a balanced Cabernet Sauvignon, with hints of cherry and plum, and a slight hint of toasted oak, but it's less oaky than Meridian, and not quite as dry.

This is not a brilliant Cabernet Sauvignon, but it's more than adequate as a table wine, the sort you might keep on hand for those spontaneous dinner decisions. It's an easy to enjoy reliable choice, with a 13% ABV. We'll definitely buy it again. We found it at a local grocery at $8.99 for a 1.5 liter bottle. I think there's a lot of possibilities for basic dinner pairing; not just beef, and pasta entrees, but I'm curious about how it might match with chicken fried steak, or a lighter tomato-based pasta sauce, or a tomato-based fish stew.