2007 Ring Bolt Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon – $15

Beautiful and treacherous Western Australia’s rugged southwest coastline is littered with shipwrecks, one of them being the Ringbolt, sunk in the late 1800s in the vessel’s namesake Ringbolt Bay, at the Southern end of the Margaret River wine region.

Hailing from there, this Aussie Cabernet Sauvignon is just as rugged! The nose is typical of Cabernet Sauvignon grown in this type of cool and rugged climate  – beautifully complex aromas of Swiss dark chocolate, a Starbuck’s Venti no-whip mocha, violets, cassis, cedar, black and green peppers and dried Autumn leaves  . In the mouth it begins with dark fruit before teasing with ripe berries and creamy oak on a looong finish.

A good wine at twice the price! This wine is bold and can handle lamb, chili or spicy Mexican food no problem!

2008 Pacific Rim Riesling – $10

This organic, screw-top Riesling from Columbia Valley’s Pacific Rim has a lot going for it. Spritzy, but not too spritzy, it’s the “Sweet Tarts” of wine: sweet pears – but not too sweet – and golden pineapple tartness combine in your mouth for a refreshing “breezy summertime in Savannah” party.

Try it with Thai, chili, spicy Asian, Caribbean jerk chicken – or vanilla bean ice cream! Don’t expect much of a BUZZ from this wine though, 9% alcohol will only get beer drinkers tipsy. Unless of course you drink two bottles!

2007 Hey Mambo Red Blend – $10

No offense to Lee Meriwether or Eartha Kitt, but my “purrfect” Catwoman was Julie Newmar. Meowing in that leather outfit, she simply purred sultriness.

Just like this “Zorked“* wine! A blend of Syrah, Barbera, Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, Malbec, and Alicante Bouschet, she bills herself as the “Sultry Red” and has notes of Catwoman’s leather on the nose as well as dark fruit and tobacco.

And just like Julie back in the day, this wine is soft, silky, supple and intense. She stays with you for a long time after feeding you dark berries, cassis, black pepper and spices. She will intoxicate you as well with her 13.5% alcohol content.

Drink her in with some pizza, burgers, pasta or turkey chili.

*Zork: an alternative wine closure that seals like a screw cap and pops like a cork.

2007 Lois Grüner Veltliner – $14

LOIS grabs your nose with a walk through bushels of fresh apples, and has a spiciness that surprises you, but in a good way. Tastes of exotic fruits remind you of that last vacation to Mexico – not Vienna – as this wine hails from Austria.

Its crisp acidity makes it perfect with chili or sushi and it can stand up to the heat of firecracker shrimp, but it’s also very easy-drinking all by itself.

Grüners have long been popular to drink young in the hip bars of Vienna, and are now getting popular here in the states as Yanks learn that they are beating out world-class Chardonnays from the likes of Mondavi & Latour in blind tastings. Plus, it’s nice to have another white in your arsenal when you’re sick of your friends serving Chardonnay and Riesling, Riesling and Chardonnay. Boooooooor-ing.