Monday, February 23, 2009

Oak Leaf Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon

I'm finding it a little difficult to post after Mike's Fetzer review. Anagrams? I mean, damn. He's good. Do you see how smart cheap wine can make you? Who else has even thought of the term 'anagram' since graduating from elementary school? Let me give it a shot:

Oak Leaf Vineyards = Nevr say Id Oak Leaf (?)

Ok, perhaps cheap wine doesn't enhance my intelligence quite the same way that it seems to with Mike. Funny enough, my lazy attempt at the anagram captures my prevailing sentiment towards the Oak Leaf. Nevr again.

My lovely mother-in-law picked up this bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon for us at Walmart. She expressed her delight and disbelief at the price, as did I. I later found out that Oak Leaf is Walmart's response to the popularity that the Charles Shaw brand brought to the Trader Joe's chain. Eager to get a piece of the cheap wine market, Walmart now offers basic house wines under the Oak Leaf label. While I'm curious to try their other Oak Leaf wines (merlot, chardonnay, etc.), I can't recommend the Cab. It's very tart and flavorless; no hints of fruit to be found anywhere. Even a little sour. Spend the two extra pennies at Trader Joe's for a bottle of the Charles Shaw.


3 out of 10.


Walmart, $2.97
Posted by at 11:03 PM
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33 comments:

  1. A friend brought over a bottle OAK LEAF'S MERLOT, told me it was about $13.00. After tasting I gave him the "fish eye", he then fessed up, well maybe $2.97 at Wallmart. Not bad at all. But, are they in Rippon or Livermore? What is the alcohol content, year, etc. Rippon is about 15mi. from Gallo's plant. While they have advanced by leap's and bound's in the past 20years, the still make a lot of wino wine's. I wonder if there is some connection?
    Cleve, New Mexico
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  2. I have been buying the OL merlot for several months - it is as good as most merlots available from California - better than most other continent merlots. I know some people that have purchased a dozen bottles after tasting. Thanks, The Friend.
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  3. We just recently tried OL Merlot and love it! It's nice & light in body and taste, no migraine after drinking it,and especially welove the price of $2.97 at Walmart. We found it at the Outerbanks, NC while on vacation and hope to find it locally in CT. Would definitely recommend trying it.
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  4. Ah the Outer Banks :) Love it there. I'm glad to hear that the OL Merlot fairs better than the Cab---I'll definitely pick up a bottle the next time I'm at Walmart.
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  5. You're paying $2.97 at Wal-Mart? We just picked up a couple of bottles at our local Wal-Mart (Palm Springs, CA) for $1.97 each. Well, maybe wine is just cheaper in CA than in NC. We haven't opened it yet (a cabernet and a zinfadel), but I'm sure it'll be good enough for the price we paid.
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  6. having traveled all over the world and having bought wines in many countries for much more, I have to say that the OL line beats my expectations. My favorite is Syrah, which my local WalMart has just stocked. The Merlot is quite good too, and I serve the Chardonnay to my friends without hesitation. It is refreshing to be able to find wine which doesn't cost a mortgage to enjoy! -wine lover in Ga
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  7. I bought a box of Oak Leaf Cab today...Yeck! Retch! Puke! I've bought lots of cheap wine and experienced varied degrees of enjoyment. This was, without a doubt the worst liquid I've had the displeasure to put in my mouth. Given the choice, at gunpoint, between drinking a glass of Oak Leaf and a glass on my own body waste, I'd choose the latter.
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  8. I'm pretty new to wines, and thus, still learning a lot. My intent was to buy cheaper wines and try different varieties one bottle at a time. There are also a couple of boxed wines (I know, shiver, horror, etc) that I like, but they tend to be on the sweet and fruity side.

    I've been buying the Oak Leaf stuff at WM, and every time I try a new variety, I do a little research on the web... checking the Wikipedia page on the variety, looking for opionions and blogs, etc. That's how I got here.


    My amateurish opinion of this wine is... sharp taste. Really sharp (that would be tannins, I guess?). I've been reading that CS would go much better with a fatty red meat meal... say, a steak or other grilled meat. Something about the proteins restraining the tannins and bringing out the fruit.

    Anyway, I'll keep an eye on this blog. Any suggestions for cheap-but-decent wines during my little period of exploration would be appreciated.
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  9. While on vacationing in the mts. of NC, I ran into Walmart to get a bottle of wine. Couldn't believe the end display had Oak Leaf Cabernet Sauvignon for $2.99. Thought I'd give it a try. However, I did purchase a back up bottle of Yellow Tail in case I poured OL down the drain. My husband and I were pleasantly surprised and enjoyed OL and will buy more. Glad I had not read the snooty comment above before I went into Walmart.
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  10. The Merlot is better than most for the price. Let the reds breath, it has improved the taste.
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  11. Last summer I piked up a bottle of the Oak Leaf pinot grigio-chardonnay blend out of curiosity. Not recommended for human consumption but not bad for stripping wax off floors. I said I would never buy ANYTHING with Oak Leaf in the name ever again. Last night I was having dinner with a friend and he served me a glass of Oak Leaf shiraz without my knowing and I loved it. I tried the cabernet sauvignon today and its just as good. Maybe I just picked up a bad bottle and got the wrong first impression but this is my new everyday house wine.
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  12. We've been trying to find good cheap wines here in Brazil where we live and where Chilean and Argentinian wines are widely available at very affordable prices. It was a very pleasant surprise to degust OL cabernet sauvignon while having dinner party with friends. Amazingly good! Better than many chilean and argentinians wines of similar price.
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  13. OL merlot.. best buy of the year!! Good stuff.. great price!!
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  14. We bought a bottle of OL Shiraz and everyone loved it! It cost $3.97 in Florida at Walmart, and it was worth every penny!
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  15. My sister just gave me a bottle of the OL chardonnay saying that she didn't like it. I tried it with trepidation and to my surprise really liked it. I had it with shrimp scampy the first night and it was wonderful. I've asked her if she has anymore bottles she doesn't want. :) I've tried many wines over the $15.00 mark and this one by far beats them. Can't wait to try the other varieties.
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  16. Cellar Tracker article states that Oak Leaf is Gallo Vineyards Product....
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  17. My wife and I discovered OAK LEAF 14 months ago in the WALMART in Destin, FL. We were surprised at the $2.97 price per bottle but we thought we would give it a test. Since then we have purchased of 140 bottles for ourselves and friends at parties.
    We have told people in WALMART looking at wine to just give OAK LEAF a try..........what do you have to loose for $2.97. We love it and have had "0" problems with this great wine.
    I was in WALMART this morning and got 2 more bottles, that's 4 in 2 days, and all the Pinot
    and Cabernet was sold out.
    We are amazed at the quality and price and glad that we discovered it. Vino....healthy!
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  18. It would not surprise me if the quality of each variety varies from year to year. I had tried a few Oak Leaf varieties... the pinot grigio/chenin blanc mixture, the sauvignon blanc, the white zinfandel. They were all "okay" - for human consumption and not for stripping floors, but all were obviously inexpensive. I had read that the reds are better, as is the chardonnay (a white I had not tried yet.) I can't bring myself to try the merlot... I just don't like merlot (and not because of the movie Sideways!) But I did today pick up a bottle of cabernet sauvignon, a bottle of shiraz, and a bottle of chardonnay. So far I have only tried the cab... which is not a wine I usually even like... and it's quite nice! I do taste the fruit, and it's not flavorless. It would not surprise me if, almost two years after the original comment here, it has gotten somewhat better. I'm looking forward to trying the other two bottles I purchased.

    My advice when it comes to this wine is... sample as many varieties as you can. At under $3.00, buy them all at once! I suspect even a very discriminating (none-"cheap wine") wine drinker will find a few he or she likes. And then... you've found a VERY inexpensive go-to wine when the situation calls for high-volume purchasing.
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  19. recent OL Merlots have had an overwhelming vanilla flavor, hope someone will get there attention on this.
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  20. New Bern, NC.....Our local Wally World sells Oak Leaf wines for $1.97 and my first thought was, is it really wine? I'm not an acclaimed wine critic but at the same time I'm able to appreciate a decent 10 yr. old Barolo. After trying a variety of their wines the OL brand has become our "house" wine. We serve it without hesitation. I must add though, for special occasions we do uncork some more sophisticated wines to savor and keep the palate in tune.
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  21. Today I went into my local Walmart Store & picked up some cheap affordable wine to try. I still haven't opened the bottle. Yes its the Oak Leaf Shiraz. Can anyone tell me what it taste like.
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  22. It tastes like Shiraz. Jees.
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  23. I've tried all of Oak Leaf's wines and the only ones that I would recommend are the " Sweet Red" and " white zinfendel" the others really lack in taste. The big red dark full flavored wines (cab, merlot,shiraz) really didn't taste like they had much body or depth. Now the Sweet red, and white zin, are light and airy sweet and tart well balanced flavored and taste fairly good. In conclusion I try to go around 7-8 USD and get Robert Mondovi which I think taste better; No offense to the Oak Leaf lovers. Then again you could get 3bottles of Oak Leaf for one bottle on Robert Mondovi. I think when it comes to wine "you get what you give!"
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  24. I recently started drinking wine. I wanted a change from tequila and beer. My husband picked me up a bottle of cabernet sauvignon oak leaf brand. I am not a wine expert but do like wine that is not so sweet. This was okay. I do like a little sweetness though. I will try the shiraz. For the price you do get a deal. I was told you don't have to spend alot of money to have a good wine. What i like is i don't have that bloated feeling like after drinking beer.
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  25. Someone brought a bottle of Oak Leaf Cabernet Sauvignon to a party I hosted and it didn't get opened. I very much enjoyed it at a later date. My parents are very in to wine and I assumed they had bought it for $10 or more. I called to find out where they bought it and my mom had no idea what I was talking about. Now that I have been doing some searching online I see that it is comparable in price to two-buck-chuck at Trader Joe's (of which I have bought many), but I enjoyed it much more!! I will be off to Wal Mart ASAP to pick up some more :)
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  26. Those who knock the Oak Leaf Cab are expecting too much from a $2.97 bottle of wine. Yes, it does lack a lot of the flavor of the higher priced wines, but if you go into it expecting a bit less you'd enjoy it more. I wasn't expecting an aged Cab from France so I wasn't disappointed by it's light taste and "grape juicy" taste... 'Cus I only paid $2.97 for it! It's a friendly wine with a light taste.
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  27. The OL Shiraz is well worth the price of admission.
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  28. Bob Lewis, you are an idiot and your own body waste. Oak Leaf is good wine and worth at least $16.50 a bottle, especially the Cab.
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  29. I think the cab is very tasteful for the price. Me and my wife are drinking some as I write this and I have a smile on my face. I actually like it better than 2 buck chuck. I have also drank 150.00 bottles of wine, obviously it doesn't taste like that, but it is very pleasant for 1.97.... I highly recommend it for someone looking for a good time on a budget.
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  30. Just opened a bottle of the Cab and was pleasantly surprised. I would agree with the poster above that said there wasn't allot of body(that's actually what I said to my girlfriend upon trying it), but for a cheap wine the flavor is enjoyable.
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  31. I am not a "fancy" wine drinker...my favorite cabernet sauvignon is Barefoot wines cabernet sauvignon. I tried the Oakleaf cab because 3 L for $10... Really? And sure enough...you get what you give. It is...okay, I guess. Very weak, thin tasting to me. It smells good enough, I guess, I could smell the cherry but the taste leaves a lot to be desired. I'll probably try their other varieties since they have decent review, but when it comes to cab sauv...I'll stick with Barefoot because I like it.
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  32. Funny to read the widely varying comments from all the two bucks a bottle wine conisseurs here.

    I've been sippin the good grape for over 60 years. Does that make me an expert? Maybe not. But when someone says they dumped a bottle of Yellowtail down the drain, I stop reading. I'm sure they would do the same with a Chateau Lafite-Rothschild if they could afford it. Any wine under $5.00 that's reasonably well balanced and lingers a bit on the palette can be considered a bargain. I would personally rate the Oak Leaf wines I've tried as on par with the famous Two Buck Chuck. And I'd go so far as to say that the Oak Leaf Shiraz surpasses any of the $2 buck chuck varietals. Not bad for a non-vintage $2.00
    bottle. "A day without wine is like a day without sunshine".
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  33. We have been buying Oak Leaf for a long time.
    This time it happened to be standing next to
    another bottle and we discovered that it is not
    750ml as the bottle says, but much smaller in
    size. I feel that even though it is a cheaper
    wine the correct size should be represented.
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