Napa Cab that is a bargain

Yes......sounds impossible but in this case it is true-there's a Napa Cabernet for just under $ 15.00 that is pretty darn good. Back in the early '90's I got a bunch of reserve wines from Sterling and cellared them for awhile. I would taste one very six months or so and conclude that the wine was too tannic. It remained that way until the last bottle was drank......so I decided that I really didn't care for the way Sterling Cabs were made.
Here it is, many years later and I found this bottle at Shopper's corner and decided to give it a try. This  2011 Sterling anniversary Napa valley cabernet is a very good wine for $ 14.95-in fact it would be a very good wine for $ 20. It isn't huge but it does the Napa style justice and really improved as we drank it. I would give it 7 1/2 swiggs, maybe 8. If you find it anywhere, pick up a bottle and see what I mean.

Tobin James Syrah

Last weekend while coming back from an MTB race in the southern Sierra foothills I drove by and braved the huge throngs at the Tobin James Zin festival weekend. I bought a 1/2 case of assorted wine including this one: 2012 Rock 'n roll Syrah. This Paso Robles red is really good for the money, a common feature of all of the Tobin James wines. There's a lot going on with the flavor, big but not too jammy, lots of nice floral high notes. I'm not kidding......this one is very much worth looking for.  This wine sells for about $ 18.00 at the winery and I'll give it 9 swiggs. I'll be reviewing the rest of the box in the coming months.