Starfire Columbia Valley Red Blend

A ridiculous value. I’m betting this is Syrah and Grenache, but who knows. Neither the front nor back label gives any hint. Nose has dark cherry ooze, and spot of vanilla, and an intensely saline, fire pit minerality. Baking spice and sweet grilled, fatty beef round out the nose. Fruity and concentrated in the mouth. Sense with ripe, tangy fruit, but not jammy. Lipsmacking acids. A tad bit of heat on the finish detracts a teeny bit, but not much. Great with Tuesday meatloaf!

A terrific (and cheap) weeknight red. There’s no indication of the blend on the bottle, but it smells and tastes like Bordeaux varieties. Beautiful sweet ripe cherry, dusty earth, baking spices. In the mouth, savory notes take over, with lots of dark minerality and dark cherry notes. Lengthy finish. Not terribly complex or deep, but very tasty and pure.

Nice weeknight wine with grilled pork tenderloin, steamed broccoli, and roasted delicata squash. Very enjoyable.

This is nice. A game quality with the big dark berries, some funk, almost campfire, definite herbs. I think it fits the price. This would not be worth much more and I feel like I could find some other wines that taste like this in 11-15 dollar range. Probably from Trader Joe’s stash like this.

Pleasant new world Bordeaux-style wine.

Very nice blend. Needed about an hour of air although still evolving. Dark fruits, cigar, cocoa, but a nice bright acidity with some sour cherry.

Hard to beat for $12. Black cherry, blueberry, a bit of lavender, and a touch of charcoal smoke. Great party wine.

Easy drinking wine. Great value. Good reflection of Columbia Valley — light spice, dark berry and mineral.

Consistent good everyday wine. Light spice, berries and mineral

Peppery, salty, blood red rare steak, delectable.