Purchased at BevMo in Los AngelesFrom the Winemaker's Site.

Sale Price - $9.99

Regular - $14.99

Alcohol - 14%

Here is some more information about this wine if anyone is interested.

Pop and Pour

On the Nose - Red currant, raspberry, plastic toy, green plant stems, blackberry

I did find out this wine producer has already released the 2008 vintage and these types of wines are ready to drink, so this wine may not fare as well.  The description on the back is really not close to the current tasting notes.  No blueberry for me, nor plum.  I get a lot of blackberry.  In fact, this is mostly what I taste, including maybe some unripened or "green" blackberries.  Also, this plastic flavor is in my mouth and I don't like it, similar to a plastic toy or one of those rafts you blow up for the swimming pool.  The wine does have a bit of spice going for it, but not the black pepper one usually gets from a Shiraz, more mellow and ambiguous.

After an Hour

On the Nose - Alcohol, blackberry, oak

This is falling apart (similar to Tuesday's wine), even though it shows no signs of aging.  Red wine that tends to have faults gets worse as the wine warms up from cellar temperature to actual room temperature because the chill can hide some of the faults.  This wine is hot and unpleasant.  I could have easily gotten this for five dollars, or even four as we saw from the Quail Creek collection at Whole Foods.  All I taste is some blackberries and some of the alcohol.

Summary - 84 points

These last few wines bring up a really good point: wine reviews are not always correct, true, or equal.  These last few wines were all rated 90 points and up my BevMo's Wilfred Wong, yet they sure didn't agree with me and I would think they wouldn't for many people, especially for the discerning wine drinker.  Whether the bottle was mishandled, the wine changed in the bottle over time, or the wine reviewer was paid for the review, it shows that reviews shouldn't be solely relied upon when picking out wine.  I recommend going to tastings and buying the wines you personally tried and liked, especially when purchasing several bottles at a time or when purchasing wines that cost 20 dollars or more.