(3) Bold red wines

• Our rating:
• Wine 101 style: bold
• Look for at: wine.com

Of the three Pinots that Sea Smoke makes, I have always preferred Ten. The 2006 has a great nose of cherries and blackberries, with notes of toasted oak. This is a full bodied wine with lots of muscular fruit on top of silky tannins with a little dust thrown in. I think the 2006 Ten is a great cocktail and contemplation wine, if you have the money. ($75)

• Our rating:
• Wine 101 style: bold
• Look for at: wine.com

Located in the Sta. Rita Hills AVA in Santa Barbara County, California, Sea Smoke Vineyards specializes in making monster Pinot Noirs. By using ripe grapes, cold water soaks, extended maceration — the whole nine yards so to speak — they typically succeed. I have enjoyed Sea Smoke Southing in the past, and the 2006 is not bad wine… it is just not great. With a nose of spicy ripe fruit (not over ripe) and sage, the wine promises a little more than it delivers. In the mouth, the wine shows red and black berries and dusty tannins, but it lacks some of the body necessary to carry its 14+% alcohol. I still keep an eye out for Sea Smoke wines, but their price to value ratio is getting rather large. ($60)

• Our rating:
• Wine 101 style: bold
• Look for at: wine.com

Marrietta’s non-vintage Old Vine Red is a very popular party wine. Made predominantly from Zinfandel, the Old Vine shows spicy red fruit, sweet oak, and a full bodied finish. The wine carries its 13.5% alcohol without too much trouble. Consider this wine for your next barbeque. ($10)

• Our rating:
• Wine 101 style: bold
• Look for at: wine.com

Made from approximately 90% Cabernet and 10% Carmenère, this red from Chile is a full bodied wine, and with 14.5% alcohol, this wine is not for the faint of heart. The nose shows smoke, tobacco, aged fruit, and damp earth nestled in plenty of tannin. For the money, this is a good Wednesday night Cabernet. ($10)

• Our rating:
• Wine 101 style: bold
• Look for at: wine.com

This cocktail and contemplation wine from the Colchagua Valley in Chile is a monster. In the glass, the wine is inky and extracted. The nose offers dried fruit, some spice, and coffee. The dark fruit, plums, and cherry are set in a sea of fine grained tannins. The long finish is just what you would expect from this concentrated wine, which does not easily pare well with food. The size of this wine will keep all but grilled steak or lamb chops at bay. If you like Aussie Shiraz, be sure to pick up this wine — you get all the extracted fruit and stick-to-your-teeth feel, but at a fraction of the normal price. ($13-18)

• Our rating:
• Wine 101 style: bold
• Look for at: wine.com

This Cabernet Sauvignon has a touch of added Merlot and is made from all Napa Valley grapes. It was voted the best Cabernet Sauvignon under $20 by Food & Wine Magazine, October 2007. Aged for 16 months in American and French oak barrels (30% new), it definitely was not over-the-top oak. It smells of pepper and ripe, dark fruit. The wine tastes of fruit less ripe and dark than it smells, and the pepper carries through to the mouth. Mild but pleasing tannins, with a finish not to scoff at, this is probably better as a C&C wine than a food wine. ($17-20)

• Our rating:
• Wine 101 style: bold
• Look for at: wine.com

One of the funny things about being a researcher and starting a web based wine enterprise is that I don’t have the money to buy expensive wine. Back in the day, I spent some money and time chasing wine around the globe. But these are more austere times, and I am drinking more modest wines.

But as the saying goes, I know people. And one of them brought by a 2004 Altamura Cabernet Sauvignon. California Cabernets were among the first wines that I drank, and they have a soft place in my heart, if not in my cellar. My friend brought the wine because the salesperson had talked him out of a bottle of Silver Oak and he wanted to know what we thought about the substitution. (Unfortunately, my friend is not Bill Gates, so we did not have the Silver Oak to compare with the Altamura, and that might have been best.) The Altamura rocked right out of the bottle through to the last fought-over drop. The nose is full of ripe cassis, earth, and oak. In the mouth is rich and full of flavor with plenty of silky tannins. The finish goes on and on.

We did not enjoy this wine with a meal. We just set in front of the fireplace and thought about the flames and the wine in our glass. This is a cocktail and contemplation wine that I would highly recommend. ($70)

• Our rating:
• Wine 101 style: bold
• Look for at: wine.com

Barossa valley is famous for Shiraz, and Americans are developing a taste for these very drinkable wines from Australia. The 2006 Layer Cake is made with sweet, new oak, and it is a dark, extracted drink with lots ripe. And true to its name, the wine delivers plenty of mocha and chocolate. ($15-17)