It’s like the Super Bowl in a glass: raucous, brash, not long for this earth and good enough to warrant its own cheerleaders.

The nose is full of cassis, blackberry and cedar. The fruit is ripe and the wood smoky.

Do they tailgate at cricket matches like Americans do for sporting events? Here it’s an art. I’ve seen amazing food spreads in parking lots outside of bowling tournaments.

If they do tailgate, this would be an excellent wine for it. It’s big enough to stand up to anything cooked on an outdoor grill, yet smooth enough to subdue even the rowdiest cricket hooligan.

There’s currant and cassis on the palate, along with enough oak to make lifetime supply of bats (flat or cylindrical). At under $20 it’s a great deal. Find it for $15 or less and you’ve gotta grab some. Taking advantage of a steal like that isn’t rocket science… or cricket.

Cheers,
TSW

Being a typical American, I know almost as much about cricket as I do about rocket science, and I suck in rocketology. I thought that a cover drive was when you smack the ball (or whatever they call it) so hard with that flattened bat thingy that he cover comes off as it sails through the air.

It’s not, actually. Not at all. I’d explain what it does mean, but I’m worried that my head might explode.

If I may show my typical Americanness another way -- by telling another culture that it’s wrong -- let me add that I think cricket is the wrong analogy for this wine. This wine is a lot less complicated than the rules of cricket, a lot less subtle and demure than the stark white outfits of cricket, and probably shouldn’t be aged as long as an average cricket game (which is several years, right?).

This is a big, bold, inky-garnet cabernet, with massive amounts of black fruit and oak.