Henry's Drive Vignerons
Dead Letter Office
Shiraz
McLaren Vale & Padthaway, Australia
2005
15%
$26.99 -- Rum Runner, Tucson, AZ
Color: Dark red
Nose: Cherry vanilla cola
Body: Medium to full
Front: Tart cherries, blueberry
Middle: Mocha pencils
Back: Mint-wrapper cedar
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Screwcap
Henry's Drive makes some good wine. But of course, you never know! If it were baseball, this wine would bat fourth: not a lot of complexity, but plenty of power, likely to hit home runs with some drinkers and strike out with others. Drink it with friends, for two reasons (beyond the usual sociability): first, to watch the reactions, and second, because it has enough alcohol to put you in the hospital if you do it alone.
Now the perfect match, musically, for this wine, is Jace Everett's song "Bad Things." Given that Mr. Everett's tune is the theme song for the HBO vampire series True Blood, the color of this wine seems about right...
