Grainy and dirty in the nose, this inexpensive super-market waist-high offering never intended to go a decade by the marketing team, though those of us who love classic brands deem differently. Funky while closed-in, shockingly less brick than expected, a eucalyptus, minty nose covers a fruit-lacking body where vitamin-D and sullen blackberry preside.

Frail and thin on the palate, I’m glad this is the last one of these in my cellar. Still-virile tannin eviscerates any fruit imagined, but yet: beauty remains intact though glaring obstacles of balance remain. Chokingly tannic at the expense of ANY apparent fruit, the tertiary expounds where everything *berry* left off some years ago. Basically a muddle of acid and tannin, it feels like merlot at this age with nothing substantial to redeem a Cabernet moniker. Difficult to enjoy–unless you just desire battery-acid and anger–this little thing has gone somewhat away. In the finish a lush, polished patina remains, but that is it.

2012 SIMI Cabernet Sauvignon Alexander Valley Sonoma Co. 13.5

https://simiwinery.com/