There I was just finishing tasting two different white wines, when my Bride walked in to D. Vine Fine Wines to see if she had been missing out on my occasional trips. She was doing some volunteer work and she was done with the session and she came to join me. I am always amazed at all the time that she can squeeze into her schedule with different volunteer agendas, while there are times when I can barely seem to fit in my usual stuff. Well, she came in like gangbusters and she had to play catch-up with the two white wines, so that she could roll with the reds. She was immediately happy with the whites and now she was in wine-tasting mode. Your demure Raconteur was playing George to Gracie.

The first red wine of the evening was Nico & Dado DADO Cabernet Sauvignon 2015. This was a Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, but there was very little information about the wines or the winery, other than Nico & Dado are family nicknames. The glass showed very long legs, which meant that it had a higher alcohol proof, and there was a scent of cloves that I detected, which tends to make me think that the wine was aged in oak, but that is about all of the sleuthing that I could do. It had a decent color and a typical Cab nose, I felt that perhaps with a little more cellar time, this wine could go places, but I hedged my bet to see what else was being offered for the night.

The next wine was from Fowles Wine of Victoria, Australia. This is actually the first wine that I have had from Victoria and the Strathbogie Ranges, so I was rather eager to try something new. The Fowles “Are You Game?” Shiraz 2013 was different and not what I expected. I guess they are hunters at Fowles, and the “labels depicted animal illustrations as they appear in nature, and not on the supermarket shelve.” There was a bit of Viognier blended with the Shiraz which gave the wine a bit of a floral nose, and the color looked like a Shiraz, with long legs on the glass, but the taste left me down. Of course, my Bride immediately poured the balance of her tasting pour into my glass and kind of announced that she was not happy with the wine at all, even though we both agreed that this wine did not even get a maybe for a purchase, the general consensus of the rest of the tasters was a bit more pro, and I am not really one to pan a wine, but I would be willing to try another wine from them at another time.