Today, I’m back with another Kirkland Signature wine. This is one of their most popular and longest running wines, it’s the Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.
I’ve tasted some great Kirkland wine recently (check out my review of the Columbia Valley Cab) so this Napa Cab has big boots to fill. Let’s get into it!
Wine Specs
Appearance
It’s a dark ruby in the glass. There’s very little opacity there and coating the walls of the glass are really thick slow moving tears, indicating a rather full bodied wine (which we expect from a Napa cab).
Nose
It has a really juicy smelling nose with lots of ripe fruit and just a hint of vanilla. Black cherry, plum, and blackberry provide the fruitiness. There’s nothing refined about this nose but that’s absolutely fine with me! It’s fruity, enticing, and very pleasant.
Palate
All of that juicy fruit comes through on the palate. A bit of spice turns up on the mid-palate but disappears pretty quickly leaving you with fruit and some licorice on the end. The fruit is persistent and gives you a good length of finish.
It has medium tannins and acidity but it’s on the softer side of Cabernet Sauvignon. The tannins are rounded and smooth and the acidity is on the lighter side. This makes it a very approachable and easy drinking wine.
It’s got decent balance though and that fruitiness is kept in line with just enough structure. It’s a very typical Napa Valley Cab in that it’s a bold, punchy, fruit bomb of a wine. I enjoy these wines (as long as there’s structure and balance) and this is a great example for fifteen bucks.
It’s not complex and it’s not one you’ll want to cellar but it’s a fun, enjoyable wine that will appeal to people that don’t drink much wine and has just enough character and balance to appeal to those that do drink wine as well.
Score
I reviewed another Napa Cab in the same tasting session from the Stags Leap District (a tiny region of just 1350 Acres). The Stags Leap wine was noticeably more refined and terroir driven (but also cost ten bucks more).
This Kirkland Signature Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is a very different, much simpler expression of the grape, but it’s nonetheless a really enjoyable, fun wine.
At just $15 it’s really good value for money. It’s very fruity, very juicy and it’s got pretty good structure.
While it it lacks any real complexity that wine buffs might be looking for, it’s a fun wine that’s miles better than the mass produced wines you’ll find in the supermarket.
For me, this scores 7.5/10, which is a very strong score. I just really enjoyed this wine and when you factor in the price, it just has to score well. This is a wine I’ll buy again for sure.