2005 Guenoc Cabernet Sauvignon

From:

Lake County, Calif.

Price:

$18

Serve with:

Hearty beef, lamb

This well-made red wine - bolstered with small additions of petit verdot and petite syrah - offers Napa-style cabernet quality at about half the price. It's a spicy wine with flavors of black cherry, black currant and sweet American oak. While its surface texture is smooth and inviting, it has what it takes to age for a decade.