International Cabernet Day! Esprit de Gloria, Domaines Henri Martin, Saint-Julien 2018

How exciting! The Thursday before Labor Day (aka today) is the celebration of International Cabernet Day, and we are all over it.

To celebrate this universally beloved grape, we decided to try a new one to share with you. We chose to go back to Bordeaux, the birthplace of Cabernet Sauvignon. Today, we present to you:

Esprit de Gloria, Domaines Henri Martin, Saint-Julien 2018

Oh my, are you in for a TREAT. We really enjoyed this wine. When we first poured a glass, it smelled of black plums with some light vanilla accents, like holding black plums and vanilla beans in your hands. As it opened up more, we found more notes of blackberries, and it even reminded us of the lovely aroma of blackberry cobbler. However, while that makes you think it will taste really fruity, it actually tastes much more earthy (classic for Bordeaux, of which Saint-Julien is one of the appellations on the left bank), like eating plums that are a little earthy from the orchard. It's delightful. We certainly enjoyed celebrating International Cabernet Day with this wine.

To be fair, we should point out that all wines from Bordeaux are a blend. Left bank appellations like this one are typically majority Cabernet Sauvignon--in this case, 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, and 5% Petit Verdot. But it still counts for celebrating this holiday!

This gem of a wine sells for $48 at Plaza Wine and Spirits.