Make this your new house wine. It is a great buy for a delicious, well-made wine with grapes from Lake County, created by Aaron Pott, consulting winemaker, and Kyle Mizuno, winemaker of Blackbird Vineyards. Their stated goal is to embody a sense of place and a decidedly drinkable point of view. I tasted it at a California Cabernet tasting that included top names demanding top prices. While it was in elite company, it was not a shrinking violet. It struts its Cabernet Sauvignon blackberry, cassis fruit with pride, and well it should. It is quite drinkable, but not simple, with a lovely, forward black cherry, herbal nose, an intense core of black fruit up front that is lifted by zesty acidity as it sashays across the tongue. It is medium bodied with ripe tannins supporting the juicy fruit. Arena Wines is part of Bespoke Collections founded by Michael Polenske who also owns Blackbird Vineyard in Napa Valley and Recuerdo Wines in Mendoza, Argentina.
Aerena Wines, Red Hills, Lake County (California) Cabernet Sauvignon 2017
By Rebecca Murphy