'Apothic Red' Blend, California - 2011

It is the Day of St. Valentine, of (what I think of as) commercialism trotting itself about in flowers and red ribbon, trying to convince us we must reassure our significant others that this day once a year is special in a way the other 364 (give or take with a leap year) aren't.

Myself, I wasn't about to miss my psychology class because I'm all romantic like that. I'm so romantic that I insisted no flowers, and I bought my own wine and chocolate to treat myself well. Take that, exploitative capitalist ventures!

The wine I bought is sort of a comfort-food wine in my house. Apothic Red is a winemaker's blend of Zinfandel, Merlot, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon. I have no idea what ratio these four wines are in, but Apothic hit a stable, pleasing combination in this.

The back label describes it as 'layers of dark fruit complemented by hints of vanilla and mocha'. It does have a lovely plum colour, and is opaque in the glass (except to light of course, and even then). I would add the word 'cinnamon' to the description as well, and in attempting to describe it to the clerk who sold it to me, I said it was deep and rich, and would go well with heavier flavours that could stand up to it. It's not terribly rough on the tongue or tannic in the throat.

I do adore buying this when it comes on sale to $11 because until I've received a pay-raise, the usual $15 makes me bite my lip in sadness that I'm too cheap to buy it at that price. Don't mistake me that it's not worth that price - I'm just waiting for it to go on sale. It's a solid, stable, and wholly dependable wine that I enjoy a lot.