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It's so tough, beng in the wine business- NOT! At least not when it comes to what's on the kitchen sink this week... I'm glorying in two big Washington reds, perfect with beef stroganoff and pot roast (I'm on that low carb diet and am eating meat so often I think I'm becoming a cave girl!)

First is Delille's D2- it's a blended red to the Nth degree, it's merlot, cab sauv, cab franc, and petit verdot from no fewer than 15 different WA vineyards! D2 is named for the road that goes through Bordeaux, and the wine has that intense, tannic, crushingly big style, a little richer and denser than the French version, with beautiful, ever changing flavors of fruit, coffee, leather, smoke, and vanilla entwined in the nose and palate. Yumm! And we still have a very limited number of bottles. It is sold out at the winery.

I can't believe the Dunham Syrah- Eric made only 168 cases, it is a real collector's item, and the thing I love about it is the complex, wild flavors. Red fruit dominates, which is unusual for Syrah, and there is a gamey undercurrent, tantalizingly coming and going along with hints of roses, chocolatey coffee, cigar smoke, clean leather, and spicy vanilla. The wine is silky in the mouth and the finish goes on and on. We still have a very small amt of this very cellarworthy wine. It is sold out at the winery.

It's grey and cool here, but I hear that you across the country are freezing- I love the Eola Hills LBV Port for sipping by the fire (or sitting over the heater vent in the living room, I don't have a fireplace). It is dark and rich, made with Cabernet Sauvignon and Eau du Vie. Very warming for the toes and nose.

Till next week, Jean