Clayhouse is a very, very, very fine house

Wine: Clayhouse Vineyards Adobe Red 2007, San Miguel, CA


Comments: We picked out this wine with the hopes it could be good -- and the understanding it could be a hot mess. Check out the guest list at this party: Zinfandel, Petit Syrah, Syrah, Malbec, Grenache and Mourvedre. They're all grapes that play nicely with others, but with six combined into one wine, chances are that you're going to lose what you like about each one.

Happily, hopes granted. The winemaker's notes promised a rustic wine "created for that rebellious hedonistic red wine lover inside of you." I don't understand what's so rebellious and hedonistic about loving red wine, but someone is apparently feeling a little guilty. Not us!

Tasting Notes: This is definitely a wine that needed some time to breathe. Patience not being our (OK, my) strongest trait, I dug right in. Initially, lots of tannins with flavors of leather and tobacco. Those are perfectly OK with me in a red wine, but first impressions can be misleading. After a few minutes, those strident flavors morphed into a much fruitier blend with lots of blueberry and cherry flavors.

Color: garnet

Price: approximately $13

Verdict: Friday, thanks to the wine's ever-changing flavors. Every few minutes we found something new to like about it, and that (to us) puts it in the Friday column.