5. This wine will be ready to drink:

A.) As soon as it’s twenty-one (WoW promotes legal wine enjoyment)
B.) Whenever you invite me to dinner
C.) As soon as you remove the cork. Just make sure to let it breathe in your glass for a bit
D.) B and C are correct

Answers:

1. E -- Avalon is not a great album because Roxy Music wasn’t a good band. No one really liked Roxy Music. People just convinced themselves they did because they had a crush on someone who had convinced her/himself that s/he liked Roxy Music. It’s a vicious circle.
2. E -- There’s a ton of gorgeous fruit in this red’s bouquet, too, but what I was first struck by was how wonderfully earthy it is. Really, it’s a good thing.
3. C -- The palate on this wine is all Napa. The famous Rutherford dust is there, but so is the deep, silky fruit. At $10-13, this is the best Napa cab value I’ve seen in a long time.
4. D -- This is not one of the wood-chipped fruit bombs that so many of us know, secretly love and expect from California cabernet. What Avalon has created is a ready-to-drink red that has food-pairable acidity (I’d say “food-friendly” but too many people think that means it’s a light wine, and this ain’t), lots of fruit and oak to match, rather than to overpower. It seduces you with finesse and style -- think of it as the singer Sade vs. the more in-your-face Beyonce.
5. D -- Usually I’m really stoked when someone breaks into an expensive bottle of wine on a night they’ve invited me to dinner. Regardless of how good the wine turns out to be, it’s flattering that they’re willing to open the anticipated good stuff and share. No matter that the ’01 Avalon is a steal, I’d still be plenty stoked and flattered if this was opened on an evening I was lucky enough to be a guest.

How’d you do? If you got any of the above answers correct, celebrate with a bottle of Avalon Napa Valley cab. If you missed every question, commiserate with a bottle of Avalon Napa Valley cab.

What time should I come over?

Cheers,
TSW

OK class, settle down. Take your seats. It’s time for another WoW pop quiz. Please take out your no. 2 pencils. Ready? Let’s begin:

1. Avalon is:

A.) The mythical, possibly real place where King Arthur found the sword in the stone (and was later buried
B.) A great album by the ‘80s band, Roxy Music
C.) An newish wine label from the Purple Wine Co. focused on cabernet sauvignon
D.) All of the above
E.) A and C only

2. Right off the bat, the nose of this wine is:

A.) Up in the air -- it’s from Napa, so you know it’s kinda stuck up
B.) A bit closed, but opens nicely after about 30 minutes in the glass
C.) Dustier than an old attic located in the Rutherford region of Napa
D.) Earthy enough to be the love child of Joan Baez and Crosby, Stills and/or Nash
E.) B, C and D

3. The flavors of this wine are:

A.) Pork and stewed tomatoes
B.) Nothing you can’t get out of a Diet Coke from a good vintage (November was a great month!)
C.) A complex mix of red and black fruits (cherry, currant, plum, cassis) along with plenty of earth, vanillin oak and a little spice
D.) All of the above

4. This wine is balanced like:

A.) So many modern California cabernets (picture a teeter totter with a cherry on one end and an oak barrel on the other)
B.) Fox News’ reporting on the war in Iraq
C.) Sybil
D.) wine that harkens back to great reds with acidity, fruit, oak and minerals, all in just the right amounts