Frontera Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot (Wine Folly)

 

 

Continuing this last weeks wine tasting (1/28/23), I tried another wine. This wine is called Frontera Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot. (I got it for around $3) This is a red dry table wine win a vintage of 2019. This is a blended wine with 85 percent Cabernet Sauvignon and 15 percent Merlot. Lastly, this wine has a 12 percent alcohol percentage and come from South America. Specifically, Valle Central, Chile.

Wine Critic Review:

 "For a super cheap wine, this is drinkable. On the nose it offers sour cherry, green pepper, herbs and heavy baking spices. The palate brings sour cherry and plum flavors that will make you pucker. But let’s not pretend there’s anything elegant about this wine."

Lemke, Tim, et al. “Frontera Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot – Super Cheap.” Cheap Wine Ratings, 29 Dec. 2020, https://cheapwineratings.com/2016/04/03/frontera-cabernet-sauvignon-merlot-super-cheap/. 

Wine Info:

From the Wine Folly book (page 88), it talks about the Cabernet Sauvignon wine which I have already wrote about in my "Red Wine (Wine Tasking) (Wine Folly)" post. "The world's most popular wine is a natural cross between Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc that originated in Bordeaux. Wines are concentrated and age-worthy." It is a full bodied wine that is not very acidic or sweet. It is usually kept in a cellar for maturation for 5-25 years. It is very popular and is grown in many countries on a total of around 713,575 acres of land. *Additionally, it costs around $20 a bottle and can be decanted for and hour or more to help it taste like it is older.

Also, from the Wine Folly book (page 131), it talks about the Merlot wine grape. It says how "Merlot is loved for it's boisterous black cherry flavors, supple tannins, and smoky or chocolaty finish. It's often found in a Bordeaux blend with Cabernet Franc." The book also says this wine goes well with pork, roasted mushrooms, or braised short ribs. This wine should be stored at room temperature and can/should only be decanted for around 30 minutes. It is also a very popular wine with significantly producing the most Merlot grape.

Taste and Cheese:

With this wine I stored and served it at room temperature. I let it swirl in the wine glass and sniffed the wine and I smelled a somewhat strong grape smell. (Tangy and sour smell that's not as intense as some of the red wines I had in the blog.) I did that a couple times and then tasted the wine. It was really tart and bitter and made my mouth somewhat dry. I think this was the most dry wine I have had. The cool thing thought with this wine was that when I paired it with my cheeses (Aged Cheddar, Havarti, Gouda, and Fuego Jack cheese.), it made the Gouda cheese taste different. Gouda cheese by itself is somewhat salty, but the wine actually made the Gouda sweet in my mouth which was cool. I think I understand the sweet and savory relationship between red wine and cheese now. The other cheeses tasted the same. Lastly, I didn't think this wine was amazing, but it was good to eat cheese with.