Sunrise Cabernet Sauvignon 2009

 

Sunrise is one of the labels of Chilean wine conglomerate Vina Concha Y Toro, which wholly owns or partners in some way with about two dozen Chilean and Argentinian wine brands. Concha Y Toro recently announced a deal to acquire California brand Fetzer, which in turn owns six high profile labels, and sells over 2 million cases a year in the U.S., so Concha Y Toro is taking a leap from being already a big player, to among the biggest. Their brands span the price spectrum, with Frontera and Sunrise being the ones in the cheapskate comfort zone.

It’s a new month, and The Store has a whole new batch of promotionally priced stuff. The Sunrise Cabernet Sauvignon and their Merlot are on sale at $7.99 for a 1.5 liter bottle, so we grabbed one of each.

We opened the Cab in the same sitting as finishing a different Cab that I thought was OK but boring and bland, so it made for a reference point with which to compare the Sunrise. And the difference was dramatic. The Sunrise label says, in little script beside the vintage, “….fruit forward….plum aroma…” Right on! That phrase, fruit forward, seems more often used to describe the more, well, fruit forward varietals like Pinot Noir, or Pinot Grigio but it was very accurate. There is an oh-so-subtle acidity or tannin quality to give it some strength and presence, but absolutely no harshness or bite. Very dark in the glass, almost black, nice smell-flowers?-very pleasant.

This is an astounding value. It’s normally eleven bucks, I think, so at eight it’s a steal and it’s a fist pumping, high fiving Fave. I have been trying to mix up purchases of late so as to offer some variety in the brands sampled here, but I must get more of this and stock up while it’s available at this price. I urge you to try this budget priced Cabernet, if you like Cabernets. If you are suspicious of the whole cheapskate philosophy, this one is a strong argument for my position.