The Usual Suspect

My mom and fellow wine lover has been on a mission to collect as many wine labels as she can. I bought this simply because the label was quirky and because Cabernet Sauvignon has become one of my favorites.

Name: The Usual Suspect

Variety: Cabernet Sauvignon

Region: California

Year: 2009

Price: $8-10

Wine Critic Review: The 2009 Big House The Usual Suspect Cabernet Sauvignon has inviting aromas of plum, dark fruit, black currants, and a tiny bit of pepper and vanilla. This is a jammy wine with plum, black currants, and coffee flavors. Nice tannins on the slightly bitter finish make good counterpart to the jammy fruit. A simple wine that would probably be at its best paired with red meat off the grill. The wine held up fine on day 2. A taste rating of 6/10, but the super low price means this one still gets an Overall Rating of "Buy".

Personal Review: This wine was pretty spicy, and had a lot of the richer darker suit flavors, like blackberry and plum. I have to admit though, it was sort of lacking for me. One of the things I like so much about Cabernet Sauvignon is that the flavor fills your entire mouth with warmth without the burn of cheap liquor, and that the flavor lingers on the tongue like a batch of blackberry cobbler still hot from the oven. (A big deal to me, since my allergy to blackberries means I can only have a bite or two of this amazing dessert and that I must immediately go take benedryl afterwards.) But this wine was just...missing in that area. It was too thin and simple.
Food pairing: I had this which a spinach artichoke dip that had some heavier cheeses like cheddar in it. Maybe not the best pairing, but it certainly didn't hurt the wine.