Cabernet Sauvignon

The wine

The finish tells you the score. Simple, slightly drying, fruit already gone. What you remember is a thin middle and a sour edge, not a Cabernet frame.

Work back from there. Blackcurrant, dark cherry, and plum are on the nose, and they are recognizably Cabernet. Vanilla is a touch on the palate, not a plank of oak. The fruit is lightly sweet and soft. Tannin is modest — enough to dry the close, not enough to build a red. Then the glass goes thin. Concentration is limited. Sourness shows through the sweetness. It can drink sharper than the dark-fruit aroma promised.

Chill it and the fruit stays tidy. It will not grow in the glass. This is a straightforward dealcoholized Cabernet: the variety is in the fruit, not in the structure. Soft, a little sweet, a little sour, short. If you want grip and density, look elsewhere. If you want Cabernet-shaped fruit in a light pour, this is that bottle, and the drying close is the last true thing it does.

The sour edge is the fault that matters. Light sweetness on the fruit is not enough to cover it, and modest tannin only dries the end. It is not unpleasant so much as under-built: Cabernet-shaped aroma, then a light, sharp drink.