Unlike many of its varietal ilk, this wine can actually be enjoyed with food! (Too many petite sirahs beg the question, "What still-living meat goes well with motor oil?")

The nose is a great mix of blueberries and blackberries, pepper, cedar and oak. If it sounds a little rustic, it isn't. This is a wine as polished and accessible as anything on "Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em," but without the parachute pants or annoyingly repetitious choruses.

The flavors are nicely balanced with very light tannins and plenty of food-friendly acidity. Blackberry on the palate is just a little tart, but the fruit is sweet, over-all, and spicy oak is there to keep it all from tasting like Sweet-Tarts candy.

The finish is a bit short, but certainly tastes fine. It's actually a little grapey in flavor: rare for wine and a good reminder of just how remarkable wine is. Here's a drink made of grapes, and ends up tasting like just about every fruit besides grapes. It just goes to show you: Wine is an amazing thing, even when it isn't amazing wine. Too bad the same can't be said of pop rap music.

Cheers,
TSW

* - WoW's party wine denotation is given to a bottle that you can bring to a party, and it'll make you look good -- but you won't be devastated if you end up not getting any.

Here's the problem: You've just come through the holidays, and have likely visited people's homes - perhaps even the owners of wine cellars - at a time when they feel the most giving and break out the good stuff. Over the past couple of weeks during extravagant holiday meals, you may have even tasted some of the best wine you've ever had.

You've been spoiled by great vino, but the holidays have also left you with the disposable income of a post-"Too Legit to Quit" MC Hammer. So, despite your newfound appreciation for the finest of fine things, your wallet may only allow you the finest beverages coming from a box or can.

Bogle is here to help you out of this predicament. Its petite sirah won't use up whatever paltry sum you have left in the bank, and tastes rich enough to remind you of those days of wealth so long ago (as far back as last week).

The color is a ruby-purple. It's lighter than a lot of California black-as-ink petite sirahs, and that's true for everything about this bottle.