Pillar Box Red 2006: B+

so...to continue the dribble...i opened up a bottle of pillar box red (preferred wine of Tom Brady and the future super bowl champion New England Patriots - see photo to right) that i got on sale at the corner liquor store ("martin's" - on corner of Florida and T Street, next to the Washington Hilton) for 9 bucks. this wine falls into the aforementioned "wine i open when i am alone so i don't feel bad if/when i don't down a whole bottle". initially attracted by the smart looking screw cap and the simple cover art, this juice was a pleasant surprise. on the nose i had a hard time identifying the dominant characteristic, but settled on a combo of carob, prune, and date. any carob fans out there? i didn't think so. i only know what carobs are and taste/smell like because my mom used to occasionally try to trick me into thinking she was putting a chewy chocolate chip granola bar into my lunch box, when in reality they were carob "chip" granola bars from the health food store. for the uninitiated, carobs taste nothing like chocolate.

when tasted, this shiraz/cab/merlot blend was not overly big and fruity and had nice tannins - just the right of top of the mouth cotton for my taste. when i smell from the top of my glass, it has a really different nose then when i stick my snout down in - like almost savory, i want to say some kind of gamy meaty smell. this juice seemed to flatten out as i drank it and lose some of the initial tannic punch. i think i actually liked the jumpier tannins when i first opened it up. over all a great value - especially at the martin's sale price.