Mantra and Meadowlark Cabernet Sauvignon

I opened 2 very different cabs this weekend while watching the superbowl. The 1st was a 2005 cab and syrah mix from Meadowlark Cellars, a Napa Valley wine. It’s 73% cab and 27% syrah. This wine was heavily recommended and promoted by the Wine Library which rated it at 93 points. I ended up picking up 6 bottles. This wine has a great color and a nice aroma. You get the smoothness of the cab along with the bite of the syrah, a very nice wine. Here’s what Wine Library says about it “COLOR-dark; NOSE-over-the-top chocolate covered raspberry bar; nice balance, hint of charcoal; raspberry is really singing; TASTE-completely explosive; the Syrah kicks an enormous amount of fruit, yet complexity & secondary weight behind the beautifully pure Napa Cab; this wine is completely bouncing on my palate; legitimately has a 45 second to 1 minute finish; little hints of green now; a young wine, but so polished & elegant; easy to drink now, but has that 5-10 year window where I think it will continue to explode; positively one of the best buys out of Napa in a long time; New World explosion w/ Old World balance & structure.”

The 2nd wine I opened was a 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon from Mantra which was 75% Alexander Valley with 25% from Dry Creek Valley. This wine was also really good. It had a dark purple color and a nice long finish. This wine is very smooth and went down very easily.