A friend was eating alone, so I agreed to trade dinner for a nice bottle of wine. I brought the 2000 Yountville H. Gray Cabernet Sauvignon from rocco Family Winery, another "made it big in another industry now let's make wine" producer that I enjoy.
A bit hot on the nose (14.6% abv). Definitely a New World Cab vanilla oak on the finish. More "red" fruit of raspberrry/cherry than blackberry. Althgough there is the oak, this wine shows nice balance, with that holy grail of wine for me savory note on the finish. A very enjoyable, simple, lush Napa Cab. I also like Rocco's "Bad Boy Red" kitchen sink blend. If I recall correctly, I liked this label better than their current Rocco release, which has a bit too much caramel for me.
A nice balanced wine, consumed with a fantastic grilled steak salad. It actually went ok with the vinagrette on the greens, surprisingly (wiuth the char-grilled meat, it was lovely).
Solid **1/2-to-*** wine