Vicious by Sobon - Petite Sirah @@@@@ (5 corks)

Retails: $8.97 (Total Wine)

When the wine maker comments on your blog and suggests another of his selection to taste...you do it. Well...in my case, so long as it's under $10, I'm down!

Another gorgeous red and another win for Sobon's wine selections. The flavors are beautifully manicured and engulf your palette with a soft, glowing flavor that lingers with a slight dryness on the back of the tongue.

It has a certain earthy quality to it. I could imagine myself sitting on the back porch of an antique home in late summer overlooking fields of acreage, listening to Eddie Vedder (Into the Wild soundtrack, perhaps). There's a certain simplicity in wine's earthen upbringing that is often over-wrought by pretension. Wine is so influenced by weather, dirt, sun, neighboring vegetation, earth's rotation and what have you, that there's something comforting to the notion of enjoying a product whose flavor isn't compromised by chemical introductions. The unfortunate byproduct is peoples' insistence on making wine into an elitist product to be solely enjoyed by those with "advanced palettes." I think wine's only purpose is to be enjoyed. Go forth and enjoy, my friends.

Vicious Zin by Sobon - Red Zinfandel @@@@@ (5 corks!)

Retails: $8.99 (Total Wine)

"Hey, don't let looks or price fool you! There's a lot of heart and flavor in this little scrapper..."

These are the opening words to the commentary on the back of this red zin's bottle and I couldn't agree more! Truly, it had me at first glance. The bottle sports a comic book inspired rendering of a pit bull that immediately caught my eye. As my dog, Roxy, is demonstrating, this is one hell of a buy!

Vicious Zin disappeared faster than I could even realize. My fiance had just poured me another glass and I was shocked to see that the bottle was empty! It's a truly fantastic red zinfandel--full of flavor, not too much bite or dry aftertaste. If you like a full-bodied red, you'll be happily surprised.

Final Words: this might become a regular in my rotation :)