Review:
The Root: 1 is a bargain priced (sometimes under $10 U.S.), reasonably well-regarded cabernet sauvignon from Colchagua Valley, Chile, grapes vinted by Vina Ventisquero. Gorgeous bottle in the U.S. imported version.
In the glass, it is dark red, moving from opaque to more transparent right at the rim. Touch of purple.
Aromas are forceful, pumping sweet cherry liqueur aromas out of the glass. A wonderful, grown-up candy smell. Reminds me of Ogden Nash's line. Hugely inviting in a bright, sweet way. Almost, oddly enough, like the fresh laundry aroma I sometimes find in the gamay grape, commonly available as beaujolais.
On the palate, you first sense a lusher, rounder wine than you might have expected from the aroma. Fully ripe plums in the middle, touches of dark chocolate and rich dark cherries. Just enough tannin and acid to give depth to the round sweetness. An evenly fading, modest length finish. I'd stay with this one for an evening. Four stars out of five. An absolutely awesome value for the price.
Robert Parker liked this, giving it 90 points in the Wine Advocate and saying, "Deep, dark cherry color with an expressive bouquet of currants, vanilla, blackberry and redberry fruits. Toffee, tobacco and bittersweet chocolate also stand out on the nose. Soft and supple in the mouth, the ripe fruit is balanced by smooth oak and its creamy texture is dominated by rich, ripe berries and a dark chocolate finish."
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After full-day decanting: lost most of its potency. Not recommended. Drink fresh.
Find Root 1 Cabernet Sauvignon at WineZap.
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ReplyDeleteThis is far from the best wine I have ever had. I found it to be medium dry, and bitter. I can only guess that it is singularly a bad bottle.
Wow. That's definitely bad news. Sometimes I'd say bitterness might be cured by a bit of decanting time, but from my experiment, decanting didn't seem to help Root 1 much. Definitely something dark in the brew (I called it "dark chocolate", Parker called it "bittersweet").
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