Robert Mondavi Napa Cabernet

Robert Mondavi Winery
Cabernet Sauvignon
Napa Valley
Napa, California
2005
15%
$26.00 -- Rum Runner, Tucson, AZ

Color: Deep ruby
Nose: Panko-crusted shrimp with a side of spinach in a creamy balsamic vinaigrette
Body: Full
Front: Cherry cream, mint
Middle: Cedar vanilla, pepper
Back: Smoke, pencils, chocolate, gravel
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

Maybe it's because it's Christmas Eve, maybe it's because there's a roast in the oven smelling like heaven at 375 degrees, maybe it's because the Kingston Trio are singing "Children Go Where I Send Thee" in big, fat, analog sound. But this wine is astounding, right out of the bottle. It's all that I imagine in a Napa wine. Many, many things are going on in it, and it evolves beautifully as it opens.

This may be in part because a lot of players are involved in making this taste like it does. I have to say that, though I can't say how it'll age, this is a bargain. It's up there with bottles I've reviewed here at $50 or more. If I survive Christmas dinner and leftovers, I'll be getting more of this.

V. Sattui Napa Valley Cabernet

V. Sattui Winery
Cabernet Sauvignon
Napa Valley
2005
14.5%
$32.00 -- V. Sattui Winery, St. Helena, CA

Color: Dark ruby
Nose: Blueberries, chocolate
Body: Full
Front: Cassis
Middle: Blueberry mocha
Back: Tannins, cream
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

This is unadulteratedly lovely wine, like so much of what Sattui makes. It's rich and dominating, good with food (stands up to tonight's mild curry, even). It has tannins like playground bullies, but some of us like a good tannin beating every now and then.

This wine goes well with Swamp Rat's song "Stella II," with its combination--contrast?--of smooth and loungey with startlingly powerful and suggestive.

Note: 28 November 2009. The 2006 is delightful, too (price point and alcohol about the same as the '05): tannins are softer, but it has the same blueberry-driven nose, with a nice meaty body that's got some cherry and coffee in it.

Henry's Drive Dead Letter Office

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...

Jezebel Pinot Noir

Jezebel (Daedalus Cellars)
Pinot Noir
Dundee, Oregon
2007
13%
$19.99 -- Rum Runner, Tucson, AZ

Color: Light red
Nose: Raspberry mutton
Body: Light
Front: Cinnamon strangleberry
Middle: Buttery raspberry
Back: Peppermint
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Screwcap

There's not a ton of complexity in this wine, but here's the thing: when Pinot is uncomplex, it's usually grape juice. This one is interestingly uncomplex. If you can figure out what that means, perhaps you can also explain to me what "strangleberry" is.

I spent a delightful midnight hour or two with my friend Frank drinking a bottle of Pinot by the parent label for this wine, Daedalus, while chipping golf balls onto an unlit green under a wide, brilliant northern Michigan sky. So I figured the Jezebel would be a good bet as a cheaper version, and lo! it was. Light foods, rich music, and this will shine.

Water Wheel Memsie

Water Wheel Vineyards
Memsie
Shiraz, Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon
Bendigo, Australia
2005
14.8%
$9.88 -- Whole Foods, Austin, TX

Color: Deep garnet
Nose: Cassis, mint
Body: Medium
Front: Eucalyptus
Middle: Raspberry, chocolate
Back: Cedar
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Screwcap

I'm a bit astounded that I got this bottle for this price. Perhaps no one knows what is inside it? It's not the most body-full Shiraz, nor the longest on the palate. But it's a great tasting wine, with super-interesting flavors. The nose is strongly fruity and minty, but the palate opens up rapidly into a range of dark flavors, not all of which I've managed to capture above.

For those of you less interested in subtle flavors and more in effects, please note that this wine is powerfully strong, but does not taste that way. I'll write you letters in jail.

Champy Bourgogne Signature

Maison Champy
Bourgogne Signature
Chardonnay
Bourgogne, Beaune, France
2006
13%
$19.99 -- Whole Foods, Austin, TX

Color: Medium gold
Nose: Pineapple, butter, clove
Body: Medium
Front: Melon
Middle: Lime, butter
Back: Wood
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

This wine has a lovely nose. It's well-balanced and nicely structured. Perhaps it's just me, but it seems a bit too...subtle. I swirled, I let it warm up a bit, I drank deep, and I chewed. It's really lovely, and good with food (shamelessly, pizza, ordered online, no less), but it's not the life-changing experience of Chasseur or even the good old-fashioned fun of Hog Wilde.

This white wine experiment is making me think. I really think that I need to try whites in the summertime, unless they're brooding chardonnays of repute, because they just don't seem to inspire associative storytelling in me during the winter.

Just an excuse, to convince myself it's responsible to slip back into the Cabernet or Shiraz stream as the holidays approach? That is entirely possible. But I feel that we all will benefit from at least trying this approach.

Bommarito Cabernet

Bommarito Vineyard
Cabernet Sauvignon
Napa ValleySt. Helena, CA2005
14.2%
$14.95 at Spec's, Austin, TX

Color: Dark purpley-red
Nose: Sour fruit, chocolate
Body: Medium to full
Front: Mochaberries
Middle: Black pepper, vanilla
Back: Oak, a little mint
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Screwcap

Of course, Virginia, there must be such things as "mochaberries"! Especially at this magical time of year. This is an interesting wine--supposedly, it's the second label for Whitehall Lane. After decanting for an hour, it got pretty robust and rich.

Things don't quite develop into stories, in this wine--it's suggestive, creepy--like Tom Waits's "What's He Building in There?" Maybe the evasiveness on the label about the relationship to Whitehall Lane is part of it...but it might be the flavors. Still, it's pretty good at this price if you want a staunch cab to pair with something rich.

Ponzi Pinot Gris

Ponzi Vineyards
Pinot Gris
Willamette Valley
Beaverton, OR2007
13.3%
$17.00 at Vino 100, Lakeway, TX

Color: Very pale straw
Nose: Grapefruit, melon
Body: Medium
Front: Sparkly caperberries
Middle: Lime cupcake
Back: Lemon butter, and way out at the end, pear
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Screwcap

Attentive readers will notice that I'm drinking more whites. This is because the equal opportunity drinker in me is embarrassed by my own tag stats, over there to the right.

My stat counter for this blog also tells me that if I drink more things that they sell at Kroger, HEB, Osco, or Super Target, I will get more hits. But I don't know that I want to do that. Many of those wines taste almost exactly the same as each other. And (particularly for my male readers) life is short.

But I have had Ponzi Pinot Noir before, so I figured dropping down a shade to the Pinot Gris wouldn't hurt me much. And I don't seem to get to Oregon on the gastrography very often, so I'm paying some dues.

You may not know what "sparkly caperberries" or "lime cupcake" are, and I don't either, but that's associative tasting for you. If nothing else, it can serve as a counterexample to all you prospective sommeliers out there. Suffice it to say that I'll buy this wine again. It's particularly delightful with the Ditty Bops playing in the background and a bit of hot sorpressata on my plate.

Summers Cabernet Sauvignon

Summers Winery
Cabernet Sauvignon
Adrianna's Cuvee
Napa Valley
Calistoga, CA2005
14.1%
$23.99 at Whole Foods, Austin, TX

Color: Dark red with purple tinge
Nose: Raspberries, cinnamon, spice
Body: Medium
Front: Cherries
Middle: Licorice or peppermint
Back: Ginger, a hint of caramel on the way out
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

While it's not quite to my taste, as not being sufficiently bodiful for a Cabernet, this would be great for folks who like their wine layered but not heavy. I decanted it for an hour, and then had it with a little aged goat cheese, and it couldn't really stand up to the cheese. For me, that's a problem, because if Asmodeus has an ethnicity, it could only be described as "cheese-eater."

There are interesting flavors in this bottle, delivered in quick but interesting succession before a relatively rapid flavor exit. It seems a little odd to me to recommend this as a "good Cabernet for a hot summer day" but it's a strange world we all live in here.

A good song pairing for this one would be Jet's "Are You Gonna Be My Girl." I'll let the cultural critics out there speculate about the metaphorical and material dimensions of this sister-arts harmony.

Pazo Serantellos Albariño

Pazo Serantellos
Albariño
Rias Baixas
Galicia, Spain
2007
12.5%
$8.99 at Whole Foods, Austin, TX

Color: Light gold
Nose: Honey, banana
Body: Medium
Front: Peach
Middle: Dill, honeysuckle butter
Back: Lime, a tiny bit of steel-belted radial
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

Damn fine for a nine-dollar wine. It's a chewy one, though; a substantial body for such light and fruity flavors. This contributed also to a delightful leek-and-chicken concoction from the old standard 1080 Spanish cookbook.

I've lately fallen in love with the new record from a little-known trio called Swamp Rat. It might be because I can pair a different wine with almost every song. That, I suppose, would deductively make Swamp Rat's genre "eclectic." In the case of this wine, its perfect sonic accompaniment is the tune "Stella I."

Luchador Shiraz

R Wines
Luchador
Shiraz
Barossa Valley
Eastwood, Australia
2006
15.5%
$13.88 at Whole Foods, Austin, TX

Color: Dark ruby
Nose: Charred lamb, blueberries
Body: Full
Front: Creamy blueberries
Middle: Gravelly chocolate
Back: Maple syrup, sawdust
Burns clean?:
Cap: Screwcap

Another Grateful Palate import, and another stellar deal. The nose on this one is delovely; complex and strange. They bill this as a non-wine-expert's wine, and without question you'll like it if you want a wine that'll please a wide range of people. Equally true, it would seem odd to bring a wine with this label--an homage to the Mexican wrestler Malo--to a dinner party. But honestly, it'll make anybody happy who likes a good Shiraz: it's layered, good with food, and so strong that one glass will make the truth begin to flow like money around the mat at a wrestling match.

Tough, too, is Tom Waits's "Filipino Box Spring Hog," which is a perfect pairing with this wine. Just note that this sucker is 15.5%, so don't try to drink even one glass of it within the space of that song...

NB: I decanted 1/2 the bottle and put the cap back on almost immediately. 24 hours later, what was in the bottle tasted like caramel and chocolate. No fruit, no spice: dessert. Really, really good dessert.

Anderson's Conn Valley Prologue

Conn Valley Vineyards
Prologue
Cabernet Sauvignon
St. Helena, CA
2006
14.5%
$25.00 at Vino 100, Lake Travis, TX

Color: Dark garnet
Nose: Blueberries, Slim JimsTM, Mountain Violets
Body: Full
Front: Cherry, cocoa
Middle: Vanilla, cedar
Back: Graham cracker, pine
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

It's not easy to find this wine, but it's worth it. It needs air; only after about an hour does it really start to show, so be patient. You will end up drinking a wine worth three times the price. It's subtle, rich, and fabulous with food (a mildly spicy sausage Italian sort of thing, for example). It's art without the artsy. (It doesn't even appear on the winery's website, that's how laid-back this bottle is. I think perhaps the '05 was the first release of this line?)

At long last, I found this wine at Vino 100 in Lake Travis, outside of Austin. This is a stylin' little wine shop on RTE 620--all bottles under $25, with an emphasis on serious values like Conn Valley's Prologue. Owner Gloria Parker offers tastings in their cozy space, which is like the raw-wood-and-leather-living-room-I'll-never-be-able-to-afford. Good taste both in and around the bottle, together with good conversation, makes a great store.

I'm somewhat ashamed to admit that I'm listening to Duffy as I drink this wine, but honestly, it goes perfectly with her song "Syrup & Honey."

Note, 11-29-2010: A terrible turn of events...the 2008 Prologue is a North Coast wine, not a Napa wine, and it's so oaky that I can't really tell what is going on in it. Most unfortunate. Let us hope this is only a temporary strategy.

Andrew Will Ciel du Cheval

Andrew Will Cellars
Ciel du Cheval
Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot
Vashon, WA
2004
14.6%
$33.88 at Whole Foods, Austin, TX

Color: Dark ruby
Nose: Meat, mango, a little olive
Body: Medium to full
Front: Olive
Middle: Blueberry, plum
Back: Oak, cinnamony spice
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

I promised to do more Washington wines, and so I have. I see a case of this in my future. It's going to slow down the pace of my wine experimentation, but I will happily take blogging obscurity as the price of 12 bottles of this wine.
It is extraordinary. Complexly layered, fascinating in its flavors, beautiful in color and odor. With roasted chicken paprika and spinach salad, it showed all kinds of interesting synergies, even a chocolatey flavor at one point. As it opens up, the tastes shift, the fruit ripens, the spices bake, the compost crumbles, the metaphors ferment.

Hahn Estates Meritage

Hahn Winery
Meritage
Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec
Central Coast (Monterey County)
Soledad, CA
2006
14.5%
$15.88 at Whole Foods, Austin, TX

Color: Dark red
Nose: Blueberries, green spices, circus peanuts
Body: Medium
Front: Cherry
Middle: Circus peanuts, berries
Back: Vanilla, wood
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

I picked up this wine on a recommendation from a reader, and in the wake of a pleasant experience with the Hahn Cabernet. As with that former bottle, I find this one to be a good deal. I'm not sure I taste as many layers in this one as in the Cabernet, but it's laid-back, sophisticated, and good with food. It's not very tannic, so perhaps drink it soon (though I did decant it for an hour before drinking it).

This wine makes a beautiful accompaniment to the music of Ezell, an up-and-coming Nashville singer/songwriter, especially the smooth subtlety of her song "Somebody Else Has Got My Girl." The Texas chili I'm eating isn't bad with it, either.

I note that I seem to drink Hahn wines only on Sundays, so I seem to be associating them with comfort food and relaxation...

St. Francis Cabernet

St. Francis Winery
Cabernet Sauvignon
Sonoma County
Santa Rosa, CA
2004
14.5%
$21.88 at Whole Foods, Austin, TX

Color: Dark dirty ruby
Nose: Creamy orange, licorice
Body: Full
Front: Apricot
Middle: Mocha, almonds
Back: Soft tannins, blackberries
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Fake cork (plastic)

I've been drinking St. Francis Cabernet for about a year now, pretty regularly. They have it at J. Alexander's in Nashville, where you can see such rising alternative musical luminaries as Matt King and Denitia Odigie dining with the staff of their record labels and such. This stuff is from just over the hills from Napa, but it tastes completely different; it's still big, but not a bully, and while the flavors are rich, they've got a French sort of subtle complexity to them.

St. Francis was one of the wineries I visited back in May. While there, I had a chance to taste many of their other wines, and two things were memorable. First, I enjoyed this Sonoma Valley cab more than I did the single-vineyard cab (Nuns Canyon) they let us taste. Second, one of the reasons I like it so much turns out to be that it's got a good dose of their Cabernet Franc, which is superb, in it; unfortunately, I think the Cab Franc may only be available from the winery.

My pot roast isn't ready yet, but I can smell it preparing itself to be eaten, and it's going to go superbly with this wine.

A note on the price range: I've been getting this for $17-19 regularly; it should be possible to find the current vintage for under $20 (especially in the coming months).

Note, 15 January 2010: I had the 2005 last night and it's delicious; it was different, and still good, tonight after simple corking. The oakiness is under control, balanced nicely with plummy and spicy flavors

Note, 15 November 2014: The 2008 is lovely, rich, and chocolatey, though a bit out of balance; good with something grilled, perhaps?

Waters Syrah

Waters Winery
Syrah
Columbia Valley (Yakima AVA)
Walla Walla, WA
2006
14.2%
$25.88 at Whole Foods, Austin, TX

Color: Dark red with a purple spectrum; notably beautiful
Nose: Blueberry pie
Body: Full
Front: Creamy berries
Middle: Pepper and lamb
Back: Marmalade, a hint of leather--a long finish
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

This is a really nice Syrah. My avid reader will note that I do not drink a lot of Washington wine. My friend Todd keeps trying to educate me about it, and, indeed, I like many wines from there. If I ever had the wherewithal to make notes while drinking wine with Todd, there'd be more reviews of things like Andrew Will on here. My excuse is that I'm young to serious wine drinking and am totally crushing on the 2005 California Cabernets. My bad.

So tonight I set out to balance things a bit. I threw difficult food at this wine. Brisket, Texas beans (plenty spicy), a green salad with oil and vinegar and tomatoes that didn't live up in taste to their appeal to the eye. Even the music I threw at it was difficult: Chris Isaak's Baja Sessions, whose laid-backness seems totally unsuited to bravura Syrah, the wine of ecstatic Hafiz. This Syrah was great with everything. Fruitier, with the beans; elegantly balanced and soft with the beef; structured and old-world-(Rhone)-like with the salad; joyfully provocative in the face of Isaak's mopiness about Mexican beauties.

This winery makes single-vineyard Syrahs as well (though if I'm reading the website right, this one might technically count as a 1v Minick Vineyard wine)--I'm very curious now about these. Lurking all over the palate of this wine are little hints of this and that odd flavor; it's like a conversation with a well-traveled, but strong, personality. Perhaps I should take a hint and spend a little more time in Washington.

Freemark Abbey Cabernet

Freemark Abbey
Cabernet Sauvignon
Napa Valley, California
2004
14.2%
$31.88 at Whole Foods, Austin, TX

Color: Dark red with a slight purple tinge
Nose: Loam, berry patch on a hot day
Body: Full
Front: Cherry
Middle: Kale, licorice, plums
Back: Cedar, a little cinnamon, tannins
Burns clean?: It would have, if I hadn't drunk almost the entire bottle
Cap: Cork

This is a delightful wine, and a good bargain, given its complexity. It's plenty tight on opening, so don't judge it right away. In fact, I would guess that more time in the cellar would be a good thing for this bottle. I like this blend, but must admit to being a big fan of Freemark Abbey's single-vineyard Sycamore Cabernet, which is a bit more like the Sattui Morisoli and the Faust Cabernets that I've reviewed earlier.

This is a French-style Cabernet; it's soft and complex, never quite ascends to fruitiness but gets brighter as it opens up. It's like reading a Balzac story; it has good characters, and it tangibly enjoys its own patient unfolding. I'm listening to Dave Brubeck as I drink it, and there's beautiful cross-media harmony happening.

Note: It's now two hours later, and I'm enjoying a final glass with a smidgen of chorizo (a classic KY-Latino dessert). It is a stunning combination; the wine gets almost chocolate-sundae-like in response, and the smokiness of the chorizo shines through the spices. More cross-media harmony, on a cool Texas night.

Thorpe Reserve Cabernet

Thorpe Wines
Cabernet Sauvignon
Reserve
McLaren Vale, Australia
2004
14.0%
$25.99 at Carolina Wine Co., Chapel Hill, NC

Color: Dark reddish-purple
Nose: Violets, clove, Fernet Branca
Body: Full
Front: Blueberries and eucalyptus
Middle: Pepper; a hint of anchovy
Back: Rosemary and caramelized onions; after an hour or so, dusty tannins
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

This is one of the most herbal Cabernets I've tasted. Very interesting, right out of the bottle. Good after a couple of hours, too, and the (comparatively) low alcohol content means you get to enjoy it the entire time. Lively and quick, just like St. Nick! Actually, it's not quick; it's got quite a long delivery. The mintiness goes beautifully with both French onion soup (with Parrano cheese) and the latest record from The Ditty Bops.

Fascinating too is that Thorpe Wines's parent company is a drilling company. No, my fellow Texans, not that kind of drilling--they drill for water. It is, after all, Australia. I hope the water they find is as good as the wine they make.

Catena Cabernet Sauvignon

Bodega Catena Zapata
Cabernet Sauvignon
Mendoza (Agrelo and Tupungato)Argentina
2004
13.9%
$19.99 in Chapel Hill, NC

Color: Medium red with purple tinge
Nose: Blackberries and anise
Body: Full
Front: Plums, honeysuckle
Middle: Pepper, licorice
Back: Cedar, gear-shift handle
Burns clean?: Mostly
Cap: Cork

I have to no time to write tonight, yet write I must. This is a good deal in a Cabernet, and to some palates, will seem to be a great one. It's austere, a little French and a little New World. Yet it went better with the Bawn in the Mash I was listening to this evening than it did with the tomato-and-avocado salad.

Mollydooker Two Left Feet

Mollydooker Wines
Two Left FeetShiraz, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon
McLaren Vale, Australia
2006
16.0%
$21.99 in Chapel Hill, NC

Color: Deep red with purple tinge
Nose: Blueberries and mocha
Body: Full
Front: Buttery berries
Middle: Peppery basil
Back: Chocolate, olive
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Screwcap

Continuing my pilgrimage through the Mollydooker collection, I linger at Two Left Feet for a moment. This has the profile of all the Marquis wines: bigness, forwardness, unabashedness, and then, after it's opened up for a bit, complexity. It's a lesson in befriending certain kinds of personalities. Wait for it, go with it, watch carefully, and you might be rewarded. Spend too much time with them, you get really smashed. They're cheap, and crowd-pleasers. How far can we take this metaphor? It's okay, I'm done.

This one is a bit better with food, I think, than some of the straight shirazes. It was stunning with a brisket I brought home this evening, and not bad with kalamata olives, either.

Hahn Estates Cabernet Sauvignon

Hahn Winery
Cabernet SauvignonCentral Coast (Monterey)
Soledad, California
2006
14.2%
$13.99 at Whole Foods, Austin, TX

Color: Deep purple
Nose: Blackberry, mocha, cardboard
Body: Full, but soft
Front: Strawberry
Middle: Pepper, cedar
Back: Chocolate, spice, soft tannins
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

A delightful bargain of a wine. It's leftover night at the ranch, and this is a great pair with cold steak and an apples-and-cheese appetizer. Once it opens up a bit, it gets fruitier, but stays subtle--it doesn't bowl you over off the bat, but opens slowly with a bit of contemplation. The nose is lovely. If you like Andrew Will wines, this one will please at a fraction of the price; the grapes are, I think, actually Paso Robles in origin, which is a good thing.

Educated Guess Cabernet

Roots Run Deep Winery
Educated Guess
Cabernet SauvignonNapa Valley
Oakville, California
2005
14.1%
$21.99 at Whole Foods, Austin, TX

Color: Deep red with a tinge of purple
Nose: Blueberries and celery
Body: Full
Front: Cucumber
Middle: Cassis, spice
Back: Licorice, balsa
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

The stock market appears to have gone off its meds, an insightful person told me today. So tonight I experimented oenophilically, on the cheaper end of the spectrum than I've been working of late with Cabernets, and with a wine whose name seems rather to describe the economic theory that got us into this mess. The experiment was not a complete failure, but it was a bit disappointing, much like capitalism may come to appear to have been in a few months.

Educated Guess is a large, fruity Napa Cabernet, and a good deal at this price or cheaper. But don't go borrowing on margin on it; there's a weird sort of taste in the front that I can't quite enjoy, and though most of the 2005s are supernal, I think this one might not hold up quite as long, given the not-so-stout tannins. Still, maybe I'm just off my palate today. I cut up a cucumber to test my taste theory on the front of this wine, and sure enough, it did make it more cinnamony and vanillaish by cancelling out the vegetal attack. But then, the cucumber sort of tasted fishy when I ate it after the wine, and that ain't right. I hope. "And so the universal thump," writes Herman Melville, "gets passed around."

There was a bit of the Mollydooker Boxer from yesterday left over, getting a trifle oxidized, so I made a wine sauce out of it the ol' French way, with butter, shallots, stock, a smidgen of garlic and a smidgen of flour. Fantastic: rich, intense, layered stuff, owing not a little to the wine.

Mollydooker The Boxer Shiraz

Mollydooker Wines
The Boxer
Shiraz
McLaren Vale, Australia
2006
16.0%
$23.99 in Chapel Hill, NC

Color: Inky strawberry
Nose: Berries, graham cracker, a little heat
Body: Full
Front: Cassis
Middle: Ice cream sandwich
Back: Blueberry, pepper
Burns clean?: Yes, if you don’t drink too much
Cap: Screwcap

This another excellent wine made by Sarah and Sparky Marquis (which I think is pronounced markwiss). It’s a whopper, true to its name. But the metaphor breaks down quickly: this is not one to go into the ring with alone. Bring friends and tag team unless you are a Fight Club aficionado. Strong as it is, the texture is soft and sparkly.

Like most things, it needs to breathe a bit. Once it opens up it’s astonishingly complex. If you get a newer one, consider this unusual recommendation by the winery. And I’m serious about the ice cream sandwich, by all that is holy. Oddly a good combination, all things considered, with the Stilton I’m eating tonight from the world-famous Wheatsville Co-op.

Note, 13 January 2010: I tried the 2008, with a chicken and chorizo stew. Raspberry jam, black cherry, pie, a little hint of mint, and plenty of oak lending a nice creaminess (like the 2006), without too much of a milk flavor. I think I like this more, actually, than the 2006, and it has enough fruitiness in there to develop for a little while.

Paraduxx

Duckhorn Wine Company
Paraduxx
Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc
Napa Valley
St. Helena, CA
2005
14.5%
$49.99 at Whole Foods, Evanston, IL

Color: Deep raspberry
Nose: Blackberries, anise, pepper
Body: Medium to full
Front: Plums
Middle: Chocolate
Back: Cedar, banana
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

A few years ago, my good friend Todd introduced me to this wine. Todd is a lover of what most of us would call bad puns. His favorite joke is the old standby, “A horse walks into a bar…” etc. So I was taken a bit by surprise when this wine with a silly name turned out to be astonishingly good, complex, rich, evolutionary. Todd’s jokes turned out to be funnier than I thought; the world seemed to be a more recoverable project; the birds were all lightness and splendor; and even the squirrels seemed full of wisdom.

That was the 2003, I think. The 2004 was better; the 2005 is stunning, too. Though it’s largely Zinfandel, this is Silverado Trail wine, so it can stand up to serious food. This wine is a catalyst for joy.

Strong Arms Shiraz

R Wines
Strong Arms Shiraz
Shiraz
McLaren Vale
Eastwood, Australia2006
15.5%
$11.99 -- Whole Foods, Austin, TX

Color: Deep red
Nose: Blueberry with a hint of cinnamon
Body: Full
Front: Blueberries
Middle: Dirt, creamy vanilla
Back: Cedar, okra?
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Screwcap

One of my bloggin' colleagues writes that at some point in your wine-drinking days, "you stop following individual grapes or regions and begin chasing individual winemakers and importers." I believe we're on the same page when I say that it's not that the latter two entities are a better indicator of quality--but that you're probably in tune with their taste. Tuning is more important, because wine is for pleasure.

The first time I really asked with interest who an importer was, it was just after sharing a bottle of Henry's Drive Shiraz with my friend Todd. Good lord, it was good, and I'd never seen it before. THE GRATEFUL PALATE, OXNARD, CA. Watching for this on the back label has never led me astray, and it didn't with Strong Arms Shiraz, either.

A lot of wines have groovy packaging and not much else. In the case of this wine and the others imported by Grateful Palate, it's an attention to style that extends to every part of the operation, apparently, from grapes to fact sheets to leveraging value: good luck finding another $12 wine with more complexity, subtlety, and intensity than this. Everyone seems to benefit from this outfit; it's like magic--check out not just the label art, by Mel Kadel, but the way Grateful Palate took the time A) to go for six different images and B) make a separate PDF out of each.

(I've seen Kadel's art compared to Sendak and Gorey, but it seems to me perhaps as much like a Kathe Kollwitz, cheered up by Roald Dahl, collaborates with Shel Silverstein type of thing. Sick, wrong, and lovely!)

Food matters to The Grateful Palate. The best sign of their attention to detail is that they have not only great wines, but a Bacon of the Month Club. I didn't do justice to the wine by pairing it with cajun roasted chicken (though the onions came out splendidly), but with edamame (also lightly cajun, just to be perverse) the shiraz was harmonic.