Screw Kappa Napa Cabernet 2002

27,700 cases! This is not a limited production wine! Produced by Don Sebastiani & Sons, makers of mass market wines like Smoking Loon, and Pepperwood Grove, Don Sebastiani is the from The Sebastiani Family, but out on his own since 2001. The releasing division is called "3 Loose Screws". (What money and time can only produce...) And the website is worth a visit to see what money can buy!

The SKN (Screw Kappa Napa) Cabernet 2002, ($9.98 sale priced at Safeway) is one of the few wines currently in release that eschews the cork for a screw cap. (But you knew that, right?) The best I can say is that the website has all the accessories. Flash, PDFs, PodCasts, and humor. And since the fruit is from the Napa Valley, it must be good. Right. At $10 what we have is the juice of fruit the big boys won't use. In fact the company came into being with the grape glut of 2000. Extra fruit, weak in constitution, cast off by others hoping to produce some decent high priced wine. This was the year 2000. Surprisingly some of those high end 2000 Cabernet wines did turn out very nice. It took five years to come around, but some did. But we won't go down that road. If I was writing about $100 wine, you most likely wouldn't care.

So how is it? Cheap. No wait. Let me figure out how to open this crazy cap.... Nothing like learning on Ripple.

While the bottle just came out of the wine cooler, it still provides some strong cab notes of cherry, cranberry and light oak. The smell is definate Napa Valley. The website says, St. Helena AVA, and I believe it. The terroir appears closely related to the area near the Whitehall Lane property. (If you get a chance it's worth the price of admission to taste the WL juice.) And if you have the pockets, buy some and set it aside for a few years. Let me know if you find a 1995 Reserve cheap. The quintessential Napa Cabernet!

But enough reminiscing. As the SKN warms in the glass the American oak becomes more noticable and provides that nice counterpoint to The Valley fruit. This is a good value. I have got to get me some more!

Super Bowl Sunday. Gotta Go! Have a great week, and stay outa' my cellar!