I was horribly overcharged for this wine at a restaurant called Aspen Garden in Litchfield, Connecticut not long ago--$7 for a glass, when the bottle retails (so I found out) for about $12. Well, that sucked; but the wine was actually really good—so good that I bought a bottle when I got home to New Hampshire so I could give it a more thorough test drive.

This wine represents terrific value at this price. It's from Paso Robles, an up and coming wine producing area in California that I've been meaning to "explore." So part of the price break is that it's not "Napa" or "Sonoma"—but I bet prices will rise in the next few years.

And on to the wine… Pleasant fruit aromas—centered around plum and cherryooze from this lush, purple-red wine. The taste is very similar: thick and rich, not unlike a ruby port, but with perhaps a bit of sourness on the end. The mild tannins lend it some structure, but are probably more important as the source of a hint of vanilla. The finish was disappointingly short, but this is nevertheless an excellent wine.

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