The Winery at Holy Cross Abbey

It's always fun when a group is together and there is a wine on the table that no one in the crowd has ever tasted.  That was the case Sunday at the Super Bowl party with a bottle of 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon from The Winery at Holy Cross Abbey in Canon City, Colorado. The wine that was a gift to me from a friend who previously lived in that area.  My only other experience with a Colorado wine was a Cabernet from a winery in Larkspur, Colorado in the early 1990's.  That winery is apparently no longer in business.

I opened the bottle to go with the Sicilian loaf pictured in the post just below this one. 

The color of the wine was purplish red, but it wasn't a dense color.  There was some dark fruit on the nose, a touch of vanilla and cinnamon and a definite blast of mint.  The taste was much more full than the color indicated with fresh, dark and bright red cherries.  There was a hint of raspberry, some light vegetable tastes and the mint.   The acid was very good on this wine and there was just enough tannin to make the wine interesting.  The vegetable taste I found pleasant and added a different dimension to the wine.

All together the wine fell on the lighter end most Cabernets, but that is also an end that deserves more attention and respect.  Everyone liked the wine and it was the first bottle to be completely gone, and perhaps that is the best indicator.  I think it would make a perfect summer Cabernet.

I would like to see how bottles from this winery change and evolve as their vineyard ages.

Good stuff.  14.9% alcohol and $22.