WTN: 2003 Geyser Peak Cabernet Sauvignon (Alexander Valley, California)

I was given a bottle of this as a gift and I had little idea of what to expect beyond a Cab done in a New World mould and possibly similar, stylistically, to Australian Cab Sauvignon.

13.5% alc. Dense, dark garnet colour with a cherry-garnet meniscus and persistent, slow legs. Big, warm-climate jammy-fruit nose with forward oak; seems to have these two distinct characteristics above all else. Perhaps young and a bit disjointed. Big, ripe mouthful of a wine with low acidity, plenty of wood tannin, ripe jammy-blackcurrant Cabernet fruit (this I like, since it's obvious that the grape ripened in this climate); expansive astringency on the mid-palate with fruity replays and more woodiness; good tannins on the finish (I like the astringency) with quite low acidity all throughout. Long, smoky-oak cherry/coconut finish; thankfully, it is pleasantly dry.

The wine is friendly, outgoing, largely undemanding and uncomplicated. I could have used more lively acidity, but I did enjoy the paradigm this evening. Occasionally I enjoy jam 'n planks, and I finished my glass wishing I had had a nice steak for supper.

How do you distinguish astringency from acidity? In my mind they are rather closely related--i.e., sometimes the astringency brings to mind ammonia, solution for a permanent wave, etc. or sometimes grapefruit-like tanginess and bite which is acidic.

JC, for me the two are very distinct, though I understand what you mean.

Astringency to me is pretty much synonymous with tannin in this case: that puckery, drying, tense and grippy sensation that I get in the wine from the ample wood tannins as well as the grape tannins. In this wine, acidity doesn't add to the astringency as it is really quite low.

Come to think of it, I would normally not term an acidic wine astringent, but rather tart, acidic or sour - this last one suggesting underripeness.