William Hill Cabernet Sauvignon

I know I am guilty of this...


FAIL.

Picture it: You go to a restauant, and order a glass of the house red with your dinner. It's (surprisingly) freaking delicious. You rave about it alllll night, and continuously exclaim that you WILL buy this wine next time you're at the store. Then, a few weeks later when you've forgotten the varietal, name of the winery, and design on the label, you wander around your local wine store, assaulting the assocites with your pleas to help you figure out what that one wine you had at that restaurant was, only able to provide them with the following description: "it was red, and had a goat on the label. Or a chicken. Or a bear. Or some kind of flower. It was a red wine with something on the label."

Guess what you probably don't walk out of that store with.

Well, if this sounds familiar to you, there is a good possibility that the wine in question was William Hill Cabernet. Popular in local restaurants, this wine was MADE for a good meal. With an earthy scent and deep red color, you're mouth is going to be watering before you even take a sip.

WH Cab is quite dry, and maybe it's just me, but William Hill Cabernet reminded me a little of drinking a Chainti-- a hearty (read: STRONG) wine to wash down your dinner with. The sip was tannic and herb-y, with hints of dark fruit (think blueberry) and spice (the pumpkin pie kind, not pepper).



Ok, this is just chicken stew, but for the
purposes of this review, let's pretend it's
game meat. YUM.

William Hill Cabernet was a welcome partner to my lasagna, but would also pair nicely with pesto, game meats (venison stew, perhaps), or red-sauced pasta of any kind. It's not great as a sipper, though. I found that when unoccompained I did not want to finish my glass.


Price: $$

My Rating: B+

Canta Perdices Tempranillo 2008

*What??? It's cute and it took a long time to put up!

Well the Holidays are For-Real over now. Come on, it's mid-January, people! Time to return everything that doesn't fit, get creative with leftovers, and take down the lights... * note to self.

Did you make any resolutions for 2013? I did. I resolved not to make any resolutions. And as such...I'm not up to branching out the CWT blog at the moment, and I'm gonna go right back to the Spanish Reds that I so adore-- don't worry, it can't last forever. But for today, it's Canta Perdices 2008 Tempranillo.




In Spanish, Canta Perdices means "the little bird (or more specifically, the partridge) sings." It's a cute little name for a wine, and the bottle is reflective of it, with its row of music-note birds right on the label.

And, as the label suggests, this wine does indeed sing. Bold in the glass, the Canta Perdices is a deep inky purple. You'll notice some interesting smells, wood smoke, licorice, and dark fruits-- perhaps cherry, as the bottle suggests.The flavor is powerful, with a noticable bite of tannic acid that lingers long after the sip.

Singing birds with my wings!

This wine is definitely not what I would consider a "sipper"-- one to curl up on the couch with while you watch Masterpiece Theater. Nopers, this one's best with food. Bar food even. Meat and cheese platters are a good go to for the Canta Perdices, so you might want to serve it with appetizers. And a good tip from our friend and PWC employee Ben is that the acid in the wine is tempered nicely by BBQ wings. Yum! I think I know what I am doing for dinner.

Price: $

My Rating: B+