I generally have a rule with wines: if it doesn’t have a year on the label, don’t buy it. Unfortunately, a friend of mine needed to see what a stereotypically cheap wine tasted like, and after our horrible experience with the Barefoot Zinfandel, I figured I could probably do no better than to illustrate the difference between an average and terrible Cab with the Barefoot example.

Alas, I was not disappointed. For starters, this wine is not well controlled at all.  It may be the first inexpensive wine I’ve ever had to taste both out of control and watered down at the same time – no simple feat. It manages to slot just above most cheap wines – that is to say it doesn’t taste like some chemist’s concoction of grape juice, sugar and vodka, but neither does it approach anything that might resemble a varietal character. Sweet for a Cab, sweet for a red wine in general, there is a slight hint of spice, but honestly in the confusion of this wine, it’s hard to tell really what’s happening at all. Starting off watered down, progressing to slight spice and sweetness, and ending with a bitterness that leaves you hoping for a chaser of bleach, there’s really not a lot redeeming in this wine to compliment.

Normally there’s some succinct tie up here. This is it: don’t buy this wine.

Score: 65