Fiat Vino

Beaulieu Vineyard Reserve Tapestry Red Wine Napa Valley 2007 Cost: $32 Meritage / Blend Complex and well layered yet very approachable given its youth, smooth and very appealing to a wide crowd. Cab dominant but well rounded with other varietals. No arguments with its high rating. Very mild, easy drinking, nice flavor. Ate with: filet mignon, potatoes & spinach. *WS: 93 points, best from 2011-2020.

Vitaluce Cellars Syrah Paso Robles 2004 Cost: $14 Nice nose, fruity as would be expected from CA syrah, but has mellowed with age. Smooth on the pallet. Long, lingering finish, at least a minute. Chewy like Chewbacca. Drink now - age appropriate. We drank straight from the bottle - no time to decant properly, but we did cheat a bit with the help of our Vinturi. A nice third bottle of the night, drank post-meal, would be best with food. At this price, the 2004 is a good deal. *WS: unrated

This dry Spanish white has a complex floral note that is first and foremost on the nose. There are some tropical fruits that come through because there isn't too much oak. Notes of pineapple and mango and just a little effervescence to tingle the tongue. I dig.

This Italian white comes from Nuragus grapes, which I've never heard of. It is pretty big and bold for a European white which tend to me more restrained and approachable. There is a big yeasty/bready component which I like. This was a grab at Wine Steals.

This Cabernet Sauvignon from the Santa Ynez Valley breaks all the rules. First: it is bold and jammy and has none of the vegetative notes typical in Central Coast Cabs. Second: it has very little oak which allows the fruit to come through. Lastly: it is reasonably priced, less than $20 if I remember, and is a great value for an amazing botique Cab from California. Classic Rock is superb like 30 Rock is funny. http://papawow.com

Holy macaroni Batman, this was one of our loot from our 2004 trip to Tuscany. This DOCG has all the components of a great Italian wine: fruit, dirt, sun, leather, and Vespas. We paired this with an amazing ragu that had the depth and body to hold its own. There was heaps of Bacon and parsley, n dill in the salad to balance the fruit and earth of the wine. Check them out at www.salcheto.it

Got this at Vons, discounted from $10th down to $6 and it tastes just like a $6 bottle of wine, so I'm happy. The dominant flavor is oak, and although there is some acidity, no fruit comes through at all. What are you going to do about it?

The origin of the name Kangaroo: From the bottle, "Legend has it that explorers to Australia asked an Aborigine about the strange hopping animals they had seen. He replied "kangaroo," meaning "I don't understand" your question, but thinking that was the animal's name, "kangaroo" came to be. This a tasty, mellow Sav Blanc; maybe because it has had a few extra years to stop listening to the Top 40 and mature. Maybe it never sat in the front of the class, maybe it never sat in the back, but it paired well with a Stouffer's French Bread Pizza, a salad, and a pear. http://papawow.com

This is a good, solid example of a food-loving, crisp Sav Blanc. The artsy label is juxtaposed with a screwcap. We "paired" this with a leftover Roast Beef Sandwich and a big salad (we're classy like that) and it danced the foxtrot well with both. There aren't many wines that will pair with anything but this Sav Blanc probably could. http://papawow.com

Holy guacamole. Curtis Winery, they bring good things to life. This is another example of a, "not for sissy's" wine. 7 years of age allowed much of the tannins to mellow but this could still handle a few more if you want. It is ripe and ready to go now if you have one of these, I would pop it, but like I said it is in its golden years and still has some life left. There are big flavors and although this would pair well with a thick steak or some lamb, we had this with Turkey a la Thanksgiving and it was balanced enough not to overpower everything. This was our last 2003, and we'll miss this vintage but we still have plenty of the 2005 left. Cheers! http://papawow.com

Great Scott! This is exquisite, I can see my mouth stain purple from the inside out. This is a wine-drinker's wine, amateurs need not apply. This Zinfandel is blended with 33% Carignane and 5% Petite Sirah so it has that drinkability factor that is hard to define. Its 14.7% alcohol is cloaked in layers of flavor; you would never guess. This is one of the best Ridge wines I've had, and that's saying a lot because I am a big big fan. If I ever see this again, I'll buy a case. http://papawow.com

This Zin is blended with 4% Carignane, I'm going to assume to add a little spice to balance out the jammy-ness of the Zin fruit. Although there are strong notes of berries, especially raspberries, this blend isn't a complete fruit bomb. Ridge is does it again. This is a great bottle, and expresses the Zinfandel grape exquisitely. I could go swimming in a big pool of this stuff. http://bloggers.com/ http://papawow.com