Tasting - Tom Gore Cabernet Sauvignon California 2013

• Tom Gore Cabernet Sauvignon, California, 2013
• Cabernet Sauvignon
• 2013
• California
• USA
• $13.00
• Critic Reviews from Wine Searcher:
• http://www.wine-searcher.com/wine-424446-2013-tom-gore-vineyards-cabernet-sauvignon-california-usa

My Tasting Notes

Color: dark violet mostly opaque. Slight brick red and burgundy hints, brick red rim.

Nose: Raspberry, blackberry, hint of plum, smoke, tobacco leaf, toast, definitely oaked

Palate:

• Body: 4
• Acidity: 3.75
• Alcohol: 3.5
• Tannin: 3

Really nice roundness and ripeness, takes up entire mouth in balance. Very toasty and smokey like you can taste the charred barrels, but it didn't overpower the fruit. Along with oaky aromas I could taste red cherries, raspberries, blackberries, toast, light baking spices like pink pepper but not herbal spices, a hint of red and black plum along with the typical roasted green pepper taste. This was surprisingly balanced and was a good easy drinking wine.

I had this with pan roasted chicken on top of white rice in a cream of mushroom sauce and it turned out great. I figured with the strong umami taste and feel of cream of mushroom that the dish had to go with a red wine, and it would probably have to have softened acidity, some malolactic, and oak or earthy aromas that belong in a similar category to that of mushroom aromas. It ended up pairing very nicely, but I could have asked for maybe a slightly lighter bodied wine for a perfect match. 

All in all this is a good wine.