My Favorite Neighbor Cabernet Sauvignon 2019

Blended with a bit of Syrah and Petit Verdot, the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon has a deep ruby-purple color and an alluring fragrance of cassis, violet, aniseed, bitter chocolate and coffee beans. It's notable this vintage for Goldilocks ripeness and seamless lift, offering a chocolate-like texture and very long finish.

This newer brand for Eric Jensen of Booker fame offers a high-class taste of the Central Coast for a somewhat affordable price. It's dark in the glass, with heavy aromas of baked blackberry, cocoa and violet, the ample fruit balanced by woody, herbal spices. The structure is firm and the density is impressive, with concentrated dark-cherry, berry, caramel and nutmeg flavors.

The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon is more elegant and focused, with medium to full-bodied aromas and flavors of cassis, redcurrants, green tobacco, and cedary spice. I love its texture, it has ripe, polished tannins, plenty of sweet fruit, and a great, great finish, all while staying in a relatively compact, and again, elegant package. As I've written in the past, it would cost three to four times the price from Napa. It's worth noting the change in appellation from Paso Robles to San Luis Obispo County, which probably allows for a wider range of fruit.

Dark, bright-rimmed purple. Deeply perfumed aromas of ripe black/blue fruits, sandalwood and potpourri take on a smoky mineral nuance and a spicy top-note with air. Palate-staining blackberry, cassis, cherry-vanilla, spice-cake and mocha flavors are joined by suggestions of candied rose and cola on the back half. Finishes on an alluringly sweet dark berry preserve note, with well-knit, gently gripping tannins and sharp definition.