Aslina, Cabernet Sauvignon, Stellenbosch

The nose on this is what I would call "restrained new world Cabernet", which is to say: fruity but with some green pepper undertones, not overly alcoholic, and with at times a fleeting hint of funk, though in this wine it's very fleeting indeed - barely there at all. Some nice spiced cedar on this, too. On the palate this has medium to high acid, medium medium-grained tannin, good fruit-structure balance, medium body, blackcurrant candy on the finish. In no …

It has some cheap wine spice flavors and some South African BBQ potato chips flavors, but it also has nice fruit intensity and deep chocolate notes. For the price, it’s possible to do better if you look hard, but you could certainly do a lot worse.