By way of background, opening thoughts: Columbia Valley is a wonderful region in the United States for classically-vinted cabernet sauvignon and merlot wines. Today, thanks to importer Barclay's Wine , we are sampling a seven-year-aged red blend from Columbia Valley which combines these two grapes with a big dose of syrah.
Original tasting and review : This is Cayalla Red Table Wine (RTW), Columbia Valley, Washington, 2005, finished at a modest 13.% alcohol.
In the glass: Deep magenta, opaque in the center.
On the nose: Poured cool with a brief decant and swirled vigorously, shows deep stone fruit of plum plus blackberry and some structuring oak. From the aroma, seems like this will be classic and dark.
On the palate: The primary elements on the palate are in fact deeply soft and roundly structured plums, nicely laced with oak finishing that complements but does not overwhelm the fruit. Cocoa powder mixes with the deep blackberry. Soft, balanced, aromatic and structured. The wine is nicely poised for drinking today. Full and lengthy clean finish.
In summary: Overall, rates three full stars on the five-star Spirit of Wine scale, with a plus for its bold balance. Good value.
Following long decant, full day kept cool in partially filled bottle: Deep red berries on the nose, not so much plums now. Sweet, soft, structured fruit on the palate, with a nice beach sandiness that complements the texture, tipping the scale at four stars and making this a best value with the extra air time.
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Fado - the wine - is a blend of two very little-known Portugues grapes - 85% antao vaz and 15% roupeiro. They hail from the upper Alentejo region in the south of Portugal. Since you probably wouldn't know this already, I'll tell you straight out: these are white wine grapes. After pressing and fermentation, the white wine was aged on its lees for three months before bottling. It finished at 13.5% alcohol, plenty potent by dry white wine standards.
Original Review, July, 2009: Chateau Perron Madiran comprises 60% tannat grape, a grape known for its gritty, tannic, rugged nature. The Perron is blended with 20% cabernet sauvignon and 20% cabernet franc. All of the grapes hail from the southwestern region of France known as Appellation Madiran. The wine is not designed for long aging, so the 2004 vintage - now over four years old - is pretty much ripe for current drinking.
Spring sprang early here 
This past weekend my husband and I took the plunge, we adopted a dog. When we set out to the shelter we intended to adopt a male cat as a companion to our cat, Daisy. When we saw Rooster, an Australian Cattle Dog, it was love at first sniff. We quickly rushed out and bought the requisite dog bowls, food, treats, toys, etc. I worried he and our cat would not hit it off and I was right. As soon as Daisy saw Rooster enter her domain she headed for our bedroom and has not been seen in the main part of the house since. 
I think one word sums up my whole being at the moment,exhausted. As if dividing my time between our new dog, Rooster and spendingtime with our cat Daisy who is still holed up in the bathroom wasn’t enough. Asof today add five 2 day old chicks in the basement. It’s a wonder I have timeto drink water let alone wine. But don’t you worry; you know I’ll find a way toget my wine time in. After a brief cool spell, warmer temps are back and thatmeans so are the white wines. Last night we opened a bottle of Bougrier CheninBlanc 2010.
The barnyard activity is really picking up around here. Thechicks are getting bigger and are able to fly very short distances. They’vebeen able to enjoy a nice dust bath while spending a few hours in their chickenrun and they’ve snacked on dried meal worms. During that time Daisy wasenjoying her time on the back porch, Rooster was staring at the chickens whilethe humans made sure no one ate anyone else.
“Sheez, give the woman a break,” is what I want to say aboutall the hype over CNBC’s recent