Casillero del Diablo, Cabernet Sauvignon

Now here’s a wine brand with a fun name and a fun story behind the name — the quick version is a winemaker kept the good wine in a cellar and to keep thieves away started a rumor that the devil lived in his cellar.

Casillero del Diablo is now a devilishly popular wine brand produced by Chilean wine giant Concha y Toro. It’s one of those wines you can find pretty much anywhere in the US and it’s pretty cheap — which makes it a good one for me to review.

There’s nothing too subtle about this wine. It’s made for those who like an “in your face” wine. I suppose that’s appropriate for a wine named after el diablo.

The spices dominate the nose, offering black pepper, vanilla, nutmeg and cedar. That’s not to say there isn’t any fruit on the nose, quite the contrary with big black cherry and black currant aromas. In the mouth this wine brings plenty of ripe cherry, blackberry and black currant flavors along with some black pepper and baking spice accents. The acidity is good. The mouthfeel is decent, but could have more depth. It finishes relatively long with tart berry flavors.

Wine: Casillero del Diablo, Cabernet Sauvignon
Variety: Cabernet sauvignon
Vintage: 2014
Alcohol: 13.5%
Rating: 85
Price: $10.00
Disclosure: This wine was received as a media sample.