Best of the Reds 2008

In class tonight, we talked about yeast, the different kinds and how they affect the fermentation of the grape juice and make wine. We tasted the 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot, both well-watered and drought-stressed wines. The clear winner was the Drought-Stressed Cabernet Franc but there were a number of people that picked other wines as their favorite. The Drought-Stressed Cabernet Franc had dark color, nice balance with fine tannins that lingered on the finish. It had some black berry fruit aromas and flavor. The least favorite wine although not a bad wine was the Drought-Stressed Merlot. It had good ruby color, but was lacking in flavor and was a little tart. This wine was the only wine not oaked. Clearly there was a preference for oak in the wine!