Cut my nuts off and give me another glass of this wine.

I know that’s an odd way to start a post, but that’s about how I feel from drinking this wine.  It reminds me of the old commercials for Secret deodorant “strong enough for a man, but made for a woman.”  This wine is absolutely wonderful, but I’m not the target consumer.  The marketing of this wine is totally geared towards women. 

The communication idea in the marketing materials for Five Rivers Wines revolves around a goddess.  And the copy-writing is in the voice of romantic woman’s literature.  “Legend has it that once, she fell in love on a mountaintop…”  I just can’t relate.

The winery is in the Central Valley of California and the grapes for this Cabernet Sauvignon come from Paso Robles.  I found it interesting that on the Five Rivers website they allude to environmentally friendly wine production, but they don’t go so far as to claim organic production techniques.  There’s nothing on the bottle about environmental friendliness or organic production, so I’ll assume they use pesticides like everyone else.

Despite my inability to relate to the marketing, the drinking experience of this wine is divine.  Red raspberry and leather dominate the nose.  It has a great concentration of flavors that include red raspberry, blackberry, currant and a touch of black pepper.  The intense flavors are supported by an almost creamy mouth feel.  And the finish is medium length and smoky.  I gave it an 89 and an 89 at $8.99 is a steal.

Perhaps I can talk them into releasing a batch of this wine under another label with skulls or something on the label so that I can drink it without feeling like I’m compromising my masculinity.  Probably not.

Wine: Five Rivers
Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon
Vintage: 2004
Alcohol: 13.8% 
Rating: 89
Price Paid: $8.99