Bonterra Cabernet Sauvignon 2001

I'm normally a little skeptical about Californian Cabernet, a lot of what I've been given in the past has been either bland and uninteresting or totally over cooked - and I've often seen it as just poor value. This however breaks the mould somewhat - I tried it having read reviews in Decanter magazine (www.decanter.com) and picked up a bottle in Sainsbury's (www.sainsbury.co.uk if you really need that much help!) for about £7 which I didn't think was too bad. As you'd expect from a Californian Cabernet it's a full flavoured fruit fest - but it also manages to get in there with some lovely complexity, cassis fruit with touches of leather and mint give it balance and somehow a little finesse. On the palate the aromas develop beautifully with the addition of a little oakyness which adds to the power. Drink this with beef, and probably only beef (unless you are a fan of horse!!) and the rarer the better - but it will reward you and is good enough to last another 5 years if you can wait that long!