This week I wanted to share with you the Elephant in the Room Cabernet Sauvignon. I’ve had their Pinot Noir before, but I hadn’t tried their other wines until this weekend.

I decided to hold a blind wine tasting with my friends, and it was actually really good fun (read about how to host your own here). I’ll be writing a post about it later and I’m also putting together a video, but this was one of the wines that one of my friends brought along. I’d asked everyone to bring a bottle of red wine, and he had mentioned he absolutely loved the Elephant in the Room Pinot and was going to bring it along. Unfortunately, he didn’t read the label at the bottle store, and so was just as surprised as everyone that his wine was a Cabernet Sauvignon. But I have to say it was nice to try a different wine from these guys.

A good Cab Sav at a steal

The Elephant in the Room Cabernet Sauvignon is from the Limestone Coast which is in South Australia for those that have never heard of it, like me. You might know the Limestone Coast better from its regions such as Coonawarra. The Elephant in the Room Cabernet Sauvignon doesn’t specify what region it is from within the Limestone Coast wine zone but that’s ok because all you need to know is that it’s going to have those great South Australian flavours.

The reason I wanted to review this wine is not that it is the best wine I’ve ever tasted. I’m reviewing it because it has a great balance between being a tasty food wine and being a great price. It can be really hard to find a decent wine under $20, but this one comes in at $14. Now, before you get all wine snob on me and go “how can this wine possibly be good at that price”, hear me out! Although many wines at this price point are really quite average, this wine was one I actually enjoyed drinking, especially with food! It is like a unicorn, or a little gem shining out of the budget wines on the shelf.

Seriously, it’s hard to know which wines to buy at a cheap price point, because you really do run the risk that it is going to be awful. That’s why I’m posting about this wine: so you know it is a good one to pick if you’re on a budget!

Why I love it

So what makes the Elephant in the Room Cabernet Sauvignon so tasty for this price? Well, it’s a great, heavy red full of beautiful fruity flavours. This wine is made for enjoying with food, so would be perfect if you needed a weeknight wine with dinner, having some takeout, or were having a casual dinner with friends.

The flavours of this wine are quite red fruit-driven on the nose. This means you get those nice aromas of red berries when you take that initial smell. This leads to a fruit-driven taste which is then cut through by a strong dose of tannins. This wine was quite tannic which meant it was acidic, however, I didn’t find this overpowering. If anything it helped to offset the fruit flavour and made it feel a lot richer. It also means that this wine will keep, and I do think the berry flavours will soften with a bit of age.

What to enjoy it with

Without food, the Elephant in the Room Cabernet Sauvignon was quite overwhelming to the palate. However, when paired with food, it really balanced out the strong flavours. So my biggest advice is to enjoy this wine with some food!

What food should you pair it with? Well, I myself would look at pairing it with a heavy, meat dish. Something with a rich, tomato-based sauce or meat that has been slow-cooked. We also paired it with a nice tomato-based pasta sauce and it went down quite well.

The final word

Although the Elephant in the Room Cabernet Sauvignon isn’t the best Cabernet Sauvignon that I’ve tried, it certainly was such a surprising wine. You’d immediately expect that a wine that is that cheap is not going to be pleasant to drink. However, for the price charged, this wine is actually decent. Far better than the price would suggest, and honestly a great find.

It certainly isn’t the best wine for every occasion, but sometimes you need decent drinking wine at an affordable price. The Elephant in the Room Cabernet Sauvignon delivers on that. I find it is sometimes harder to find wines that are good for drinking at a good price than it is to find a more expensive wine. Expensive wine you have less doubt in your mind about, and cheaper wine it is easier to get a dud with. But the Elephant in the Room Cabernet Sauvignon is one of those diamonds in the rough: decent drinking wine at an unbelievable price!