grape: Syrah

producer: Domaine des Hauts Chassis

country: France

region: Crozes-Hermitage – it’s in the northern Rhône and where Syrah plays the starring red role

year: 2009 (could use another year or two, but this is what they had on the list)

price: $20

yum factors: I want to marry this wine. Sturdy and solid, but just enough complexity to keep you guessing and interested. Smells like smoked meat (might sound gross – it is so yumballs you can’t even believe) and pepper, tastes like spicy black currant, black cherry, blackberry.

buy it: here