2007 Buehler Napa Valley

Lots of good reviews on the 2007 vintage in Napa and a fair number of the wines are hitting the shelves now. Yesterday morning at the market there were a couple of cases of Buehler cabernets at a reduced price of $20.  They were all supposed to be the Napa Valley bottling, but somehow a couple bottles of the "estate" wine got mixed in.  Both bottles of the estate wine came home with me as well as one bottle of the Napa bottling.    We opened that one for dinner last night.

Lot of red cherries and cranberries in the nose and taste.  Sharp and tart and not over extracted in any way.  Wonderful acidity and ripe tannin and the oak was well under control.  The finish revealed a darker side, a little dark cherry flavor.  List price is $25 and for a Napa Cabernet that's very fair.

The market also had a sale on tri-tip roasts and even though I had fixed one a little more than a week ago the price was too good to pass on fixing another one.  We served it with Romesco sauce and a curried couscous with cranberries and spring onions.  I normally use red currants in this dish, but having tasted the wine and found it full of cranberry flavor I opted for dried cranberries.  The beef was good with the wine, but the couscous and cranberries were a match made in heaven.