2014 Stout Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon

Overall score: 17.6 (9.1 for quality, 8.5 for value) Our tasters: Gave it a unanimous recommendation with six scores of at least 9. “Rich and complex with a chewy finish.” My score: 9.2. “Packs a wallop of fruit but is well-structured.” Varietal/blend: Cabernet sauvignon (93 percent), merlot (4) and cabernet franc (3) Alcohol: 14.5 percent Winery/vineyards/

winemaking: The Stout name should be familiar to everyone in the Houston wine community, but Master Sommelier Guy Stout, the longtime Southern Glazer’s director of beverage education, wants to make it clear the guy responsible for this cab is his son Ian, with input from business partner and Napa Valley icon Tom Rinaldi. Duckhorn’s first winemaker, Rinaldi is celebrating his 40th anniversary in the cellar. Stout fils, a TCU graduate who moved to the Napa area to throw himself into the wine business, grew up tromping through a vineyard in the Texas Hill Country that his father began planting in 1999. Stout père became only the second in Texas to earn Master Somm status when he passed the world’s hardest wine exam in 2005. Just under 1,000 cases of what’s now the fourth vintage for this cab were produced. It was aged for 24 months in French oak.

Winemaker notes: “Aromas of blackberry, Bing cherry, red roses, vanilla and clove. The deep, rich flavor is full of black fruit with a soft mid-palate and intense concentration of oak and spice in the finish. We recommend the wine be decanted.”

Pairings: Port-wine-braised short ribs; roasted duck breast; beef tenderloin in a blackberry sauce Price: $74.99 at Spec’s