WHY: This Bordeaux style wine is a mosaic of French & American influences. To start, the complete nose of the Mountain Cuvee is a French wine drinker’s dream. (Specifically speaking, a hot Spaniard with a rockin’ tan and well-placed tattoos… or maybe that’s just ours.) After pulling the cork, the nose shifted and changed like a chameleon – as only the best wines do. It had all of the rich topsoil dust of a Bordeaux bouquet complemented by deeper aromas of cigar box and toasted barrel. Despite a consistent progression, we still knew that even after an hour of decanting, this wine’s secrets were still being kept aggressively guarded. After two hours, the wine only then began to deliver subtle hints of stewed blackberries and figs. We could have spent a full day dissecting the nose without even tasting the wine but where’s the fun in that?

The smallest sip of the Mountain Cuvee covers the mouth, front to back, cheek to cheek. The touch of unavoidable, angry alcohol from Napa blends with a soft mosaic of French-inspired features to create a kaleidoscopic, yet complete taste. This is the stuff that Robert Parker’s dreams are made of; California in the front, Bordeaux in the back. Notably, there is a lack of fruit in this wine, but once you peel back the layers of earth, baking chocolate, and mulling spices, you will still find a rich, decadent, and evenly balanced wine.

The Wrap: If you’re a Napa fan with a penchant for the old world, the 2007 Chappellet Mountain Cuvee is for you. As far as “bang for your buck,” it doesn’t get much better. This bottle retails around $25 in savvy wine shops & will stand up to the “big boys” of Napa. We were very fortunate that Danny thought it important for us to try this wine and gifted us this bottle from his private collection. Since then, we’ve probably purchased at least half a case without leaving one bottle in our cellar for proof. Do as we have, and treat yourself well without breaking the bank.

WHY: We’ve been lusting after Michael~David’s wines for a while. In fact, when we purchased the 2005 Petite Petit, we also raided the piggy bank for the 2005 vintage of Lust. (An apropos selection for the season finale of True Blood.)

This wine was so smoky, we wondered if the Southern California wildfires had finally caught up with us. After checking Michael~David’s process and our air purifier, we settled in for a wild yet delicious ride. The initial bouquet brought a pachyderm’s nose worth of boysenberry, chipotle Tabasco and teriyaki beef jerky – ostensibly from a great pairing with Bi Bim Bap. This wine is juicy, like a sorority girl’s velour track pants. Tipping a glass of this luscious red delivers a good body, a great mouthfeel (no, we aren’t still talking about that sorority girl) and deep notes of dark chocolate covered cherries. The finish is smooth with little to no tannins.

The Wrap: The fact that a wine of this quality costs under $20 is obscene.  Much of the other bottles under the Michael~David label are dangerously around the $20 range. Thus far we’ve already enjoyed the aforementioned bottle of 2005 Lust, 2005 Incognito Rouge, NV Earthquake Zinfandel & a bottle of 7 Deadly Zins. Having found Petite Petit for $14 makes the temptation of a case purchase inevitable. Finding a 2005 vintage may be difficult at this point, but we’re guessing the 2006 is of equal quality. Now if you’ll excuse us, we have a new wine club to join.