APPEARANCE:
Nice purple hues, relatively dark, even sort of inky; a purplish garnet color.
ON THE NOSE:
Sharpshooter exhibits a generous nose, not huge but present and accounted for. Typical cherry and soft, round currants, red licorice (not black), clean laundry, surrounded by extremely pleasant and very well integrated vanilla and oak characteristics. Within and throughout that ace-bandage aroma permeates, with soft leather and tobacco, and pipe-tobacco ash. Spice notes also linger high above, with hints of black pepper. All-in-all this nose proves to be traditional, agreeable, and satisfying.
ON THE PALATE:
Soft tannins, but present and with a decent grip early on, and lean on the acidity as well, but overall nicely balanced. A medium- to full-bodied mouthfeel, I want to say; though some would perhaps call it more full than medium, I would lean toward the former while allowing that it IS, after all, a Cabernet Sauvignon. It’s nice to drink a decent Cabernet Sauvignon, and that’s truly what it takes for us these days if we are to drink a Cab at all: a GOOD one. This one delivers, perhaps not is spades, maybe it doesn’t “bring the thunder,” but it brings a balance and integrity to the table that is required, now, for us long-time Cab drinkers who have since moved on to other reds, other flavors, other new loves. This is no short-order to fill, either, because trying all of these other great wines from around the world has made us even more discerning when it comes to the noble Cabernet Sauvignon grape. I guess we’ve just had too many cheapies over the years.
After several hours I am relieved to taste that the fruit never dominates, but rather plays very nicely with the other flavors – shares the spotlight, actually – which present themselves classically: graphite, red licorice, black pepper, green pepper poking its nose in there, and all brought together under the same roof by a barely-detectable framework of mussels, or, more precisely, mussel shells. Hey, that’s what I smell and taste! Sharpshooter is bold yet pleasant, enjoyable, doesn’t bark nor bite, yet puts forward fruit (not fruit-forward, mind you) and some complexity; the smoothness belies the 14.5% alcohol content, which goes down like a baby. I like the dryness, too, which is present but also in balance, because the fruit and fresh tobacco remain juicy, even while the tannins do their thing, coolly, opening up and lightly exploding like a bubble in a ball-shape around the contours of the inside of your mouth, then the gums and around the tongue, and finally stinging the nose in the most fanciful fashion. What a great feeling, the process this wine exhibits, its dryness intensifying and then dying gracefully away inside the mouth, eventually leading to a medium, not long, finish with caramel and tobacco essences remaining. This is another wine that I found to be pretty darned good right out of the bottle, and even though it got better after some oxidation it is a good candidate for a pop-n-pour wine if you find yourself stuck at the last moment and need a bold one for a dinner.
I do feel this wine may benefit from cellaring, however, or to put it another way, it drinks a bit young, and I suspect that it may better itself with maturation, like many of us do, though, I must admit, not all. We drink wines so young nowadays that, well, I just don’t know anymore! As for me right now, though, I have neither the place nor the money to cellar a good number of wines, so this is a “drink now” wine for me, but if your situation is different, then perhaps you will find out for the rest of us whether cellaring will improve this baby or not. Not a bad effort at all, and one I am happy to have purchased.
(Click here for an explanation of our ratings ...)
Our Rating: 88
Would we drink it again? 
Yes, this Cab was good enough to warrant drinking again
Would we buy it again? 
No, although a nice cab that I wouldn't mind drinking again, at $17 there are others I'll try first. It takes a special Cabernet Sauvignon to be worthy of buying twice... at any price.
