Here's a wine riddle for this era of recession drinking: How does a tasty Napa cabernet sell in the same marketplace for both $30 and $15?
Answer: When discount wine innovator Jonathan Newman gets involved with the phenomenon of private labels. The ex-PLCB chairman has helped create more than 20 "private labels," like this 2007 Kingsford Manor cabernet, as an outlet for wineries to sell surplus cases of a vintage without damaging the established value of their franchise brand.
In today's trade-down market, where $30 bottles languish on shelves, that means 4,000 cases, or about 25 percent of the cab inventory from this well-known (but confidentially unnamed) producer are now widely available throughout South Jersey and Delaware for about $15. I wouldn't pay $30 for this bottle, either. But with the discount, this cab is a genuine deal, a luscious sip of ripe Napa black-cherry fruit wrapped in just enough cedar spice, coffee, and tannins to give it life and length. It's impressively drinkable despite the young vintage - no matter what label it wears.