2007 Rivers-Marie Cabernet Sauvignon

For whatever reason, this wine seemed to be a bit closed down to me compared to the 2006 we had earlier. These were opened at the same time, and this one was poured about an hour and a half after the cork was popped. I didn’t actually decant this wine, but maybe we should have. We actually opened this for Paul and Stef to compare it with the 2006, as a lot of people compare this wine to Stefania. In all honesty, I don’t get that, but to each their own.


On the nose, this showed some very nice fruit. Lots o dark blackberry, with some cassis, plum, and currants. There was also some oak and mocha notes on the nose, and this wine seemed very young to me. The nose was rounded out by some more herb and spice.

On the palate, this wine showed nicely at first. The fruit seemed very subdued and shut down, but there were some jammy hints of raspberry, plum, dark cherries, and fig. There was definitely some creaminess to this wine that wanted to come through, but it just couldn’t do it being so much in it’s youth.

Definitely a bit of alcohol and tannin on the finish, and this wine needs some time in the bottle. This ended up sitting on the counter for another hour, and when I came back to visit it, it was very shut down. Not sure if this was perhaps a bad bottle, but the experience was nowhere near what others have stated on this wine. The rest will sleep for several more years before we pop another. No score. Cheers! -F. Scott