Wine — have you doused your liver in it lately?   If not, you might consider doing so; I know I don’t do it often enough.   At supper the other night, along with the magnificent food stuffs (more on that later), we partook of four bottles of wine; it was partially thanks to this effect that I owe the removal of the tip of my thumb with my good chef’s knife.   I probably also owe it a bit of gratitude for the analgesic properties it gave while bleeding profusely.

Not being one to keep things well and proper to myself, I present to you here the three better wines for your consideration at your next event or evening of mindless debauchery.

2006 Ecco Domani 60/40 Chardonnay/Pinot Grigio

2006 Ecco Domani 60/40 Chardonnay/Pinot Grigio (Italy), $10/750mL

It has been a few years since I had supped of the E.D. and I recalled it as a fine wine that ran down the middle of the road in terms of balance of taste, but I do have to say I was surprised with this bottle.   Normally I despise anything sweet; the stronger it bites me back and more my tongue longs for the cool waters of hydration, the happier I am, but the mouthfeel of this wine was very fun.    Fun like a party consisting of a lot of party hats, confetti, and a few half-soused adults giggling on the couch because someone said, “penis”.

I was also wary of the 60/40 mix, as any wine advertising itself as, “mixed”, usually is anologous to, “crap”, but that was not the case here.    The mix was done well; properties from both grape varieties shone through but danced that sexy tango together without stepping on too many toes.

I was impressed; this wine was lightly fruity, delicate on the sweetness, and incredibly easy to drink.   We used it as one of our “cooking” wines — IE:, we drank it while cooking and conversing, but it would go well with any group of people content on sipping a light wine and snorting at witty topical references.

2007 Alice White Shiraz

2007 Alice White Shiraz (South Australia), $5.95 for 750mL

I’ve always been a big fan of South Australian wines, and of shirazes (shirazi?) in particular, and I have to say that this is no exception to the rule.    The Alice White is a shiraz wine of amazingly smooth flavor and palate; I was really rather blown away by how easily it slid down my gullet without stopping to zing any taste buds in particularly loud notes.    Usually in the shirazi I’ve tasted before, there are quite a few loud chords that stick out; this is not always necessarily bad, but it does cause your mouth to pause a bit and consider what they’re trying to say.

In this case, the message was clear — ‘Drink and Enjoy!’   And so we did, as this was our second “cooking” wine (you know, you have to keep the cooks happy) and it was a very warming progression upwards from “fun” wine drinking into serious consumption.   With just the slightest hint of a woodiness to it, this extremely mellow-flavored wine just felt right in my mouth and even better in my belly.

2007 Banrock Station Merlot

2007 Banrock Station Merlot (South Australia), $6.95/750mL

In Australia, the term, “station”, usually means, “ranch” or “estate” and conjours up images of myriads of sheep and rolling hills covered in their caretakers mounted on wild mustang ATVs.   One might assume that a “Station” wine from such a place would taste a bit, well, farmy.   You’d be incorrect, at least as far as this merlot goes.

We’ve worked our way up now, past the happy, fun wines and the smooth, gullet-pleasing sort, and now we’ve arrived at the Serious Business(tm) of the solid, pronounced merlot, and it is at this point that I excuse myself and go have a cigarrette, because — this, folks — is my orgasmic wine of choice.

It’s fair to say that while I’m not a wine slut by any means, I’ve had a fair whack of merlots in my day ever since I discovered their capacity to dance in my mouth and make me happy (in more ways than one).  I’ve been down the bumpy road, from $4 a bottle el-cheapo budget variety to the  $14-a-glass sort while in San Diego.   At just shy of $7 a bottle and coming from (*gasp*) Wal-mart of all places, you’d bet it’d be a gamble.

The bet paid off, fortunately, and over an amazing dinner of fresh, homemade, spicy gyros, we supped this wine and held some good conversation.   Mr. Banrock Station held its own end of the discussion, coming in nicely behind the extremely strong-flavored meal with a solid face and supportive finish.   This is no time for wimps (especially against that much garlic) and this one didn’t back down from a good fight.

That being said, it cannot be held guilty for being too rough and rowdy.    There are some merlots that not only jump into the ring but grab the nearest folding chair and beat the shit out of the announcer.    This was not the case with this one so, while it was a strong player, it was not a psychotic one and would probably be equally lovely on its own.   It filled my mouth with a nice woody texture and flavor, drawing on tones approaching almost meaty and yet married with a late-summer fruitbasket of tones.   This particular year scored very high on every review I read online and for once, I completely agree.