Opened this bottle last night, part of an order from Naked Wines.

It is a South African Cabernet Sauvignon, 2008.

The bottle itself is in the classic Bordeaux style with tall shoulders (which is because Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the Bordeaux blended wines, and the shape of the bottle reflects the grape crushed inside).

So we start with an elegant bottle shape in green glass. The label is very minimalist. Almost like someone has stuck on a white post-it note, and scribbled an illegible message. It kind of works, but not quite. The white label sets off the ruby cap nicely, and gives the wine a fresh clean look in its packaging.

I like to dwell on the aesthetics as it has been proven that looks and expectation can influence taste.

The name of the wine has the word 'reserve' appended to it. Normally this term implies that the wine is of higher quality or has been aged for longer. The problem is that I am unsure whether this term is regulated in South Africa or not, so there may not be any exacting standard to require the word 'reserve' on the label. If anyone knows about this please comment.

So I cut off the foil, which is a very thin flimsy layer about one atom thick. It reveals a plastic cork, which I am not the biggest fan of.

Given the choice I would always go for cork (save the tree ecosystem and sacrifice a few bottles to cork taint), but I certainly prefer a screw top over a plastic bung. A plastic stopper is pretending to be something it is not, whereas the screw top is honest in its approach. In the past I have almost needed a new back after trying to remove them, but thankfully in this case I pulled it fairly easily. Even if you have an easy pull, all plastic corks seem to suffer from corkscrew penetration problems. They grip the screw, exposed after a cosy existence in the bottle neck, like their life depended on it. Once the screw is wearing its plastic pacifier it is a nightmare to remove. Even if I had the strength to tear a phone book in half with my bare hands I would still probably struggle. The plastic cork almost neuters the used corkscrew, making it impotent for any more opening forays.

Anyway, now we get to the wine itself. I took my lazy pizza out of the oven and poured a generous slug into one of my everyday small wine glasses. I then slobbed in front of the TV.

The wine was quite thick and dark looking, sticking happily to the sides of the glass. I could not see through it, a hazy red mist. My first sip before eating was full on. All I could taste was a bucket load of alcohol, almost overpowering (the wine is 14%ABV). It also had a slightly bitter after taste, not unpleasant. After a few slices of pizza the wine was still noticeably high on the alcohol front and still a little bitter, but improved after some time left to the dark works of oxygen.

Did I like it? Well I would say for me very average (advertised at £7.99). Nothing strikingly wrong with the wine, it just did not rock my world. Next time I drink a Cabernet Sauvignon I will compare.

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