Gismondi explains:
You won't see Ray Signorello's name on the labels of Trim Chardonnay or Cabernet, but his Napa team is responsible for the wines. Trim is made without any additives. They don't add sugar, concentrate, colouring, or anything else that shouldn't be there, and now what's in the wine appears on the back label. Signorello says, "We believe in winemaking, not winefaking, and we are transparent about it." Although the source of the fruit is tagged 'California,' there can't be many California cabinets that are as fine as this wine. Right off the bat, there is some precision and freshness in this 87.5/12.5 mix of cabernet sauvignon and petite sirah from Lodi. It comes at a respectable 13.5 percent alcohol and is packed with bright red cherry, blueberries and brown baking spice. As a consumer, you get to experience some pretty serious cabernet winemaking knowledge in a highly affordable cab. Balanced and supple is a Signorello mantra, along with a flavour profile that hopes to mimic the minimalism of Europe while enjoying the fruit of California. We think he's done it at a great price.
He goes on to explain just how special and unique this is in the value Cabernet category:
The issue with entry-level cabernet sauvignon is often more related to winemaking than the vineyard. The wines can be forced to be something they’re not. The fruit may be ripened within an inch of its life, especially in warm regions. When this happens, the variety’s intrinsic herbaceousness is lost, and what’s left is something that’s, yes, full-bodied and jammy but also monolithic and one-dimensional. The wines can also try to emulate other regions – like Napa and Bordeaux – but with a small fraction of the budget. The result is wines with sweet fruit, sweet oak, and little sense of place or variety. They may as well use just about any red grape at that point.
