Long gone are the days when I could get awesome wine for $30 dollars. Now, sadly, it costs me quite a bit more. But I did have one holdover from the good old days – a bottle recommended by my old local wine guy: a Calistoga Cellars 2006 Napa Cab. $30 Napa cabs are generally above my typical price point for a bottle of wine, but it was a special treat, and the first cool day of fall seemed to be occasion enough.

Lisa summed up the bouquet quite well: “If you really stick your nose in it, you feel like you might get drunk from smelling it.”  This isn’t to say it has a heavy alcohol hint, but rather that the flavor of the wine comes across in its aroma as much as its taste. At first the Calistoga seems rather normal, perhaps masquerading as a simple wine that is exceptionally well controlled, but the longer you hold it in your mouth the more you begin to appreciate the complexities in the palate. The simple fruit of the first stage progresses to a slightly sweet but intense berry middle, with hints of tobacco, chocolate and faint spice at the end. It isn’t a heavy, gentleman’s wine, but rather has a bit of lightness to it, while still managing to be coy and somewhat distant.

We’ve said this before about some of the more expensive wines we’ve reviewed, but the bottom line of the Calistoga is this: there’s nothing particularly remarkable about the bottle, but it is, simply put, extremely well executed. For $30, it is a very solid wine, and certainly a clear improvement over the $20-25 range. For $50, I might want more, but at this price point, the value is definitely there.

Score: 93