Good Morning!

The theme of March Madness has been great fun for me, because I am such a HUGE college basketball fan and I am learning so much about my palette with this format. Thank you for indulging me in two passions all at once.

Ok, This is my 4th and final 16 wines and my last bracket. This bracket is all red and some of these wines are not easy to find. Like I said when I started this, I tried 780 wines last year and many of them were with friends who are on the inside track of some awesome boutique wines, but you can find these wines with some effort and some of these wines have heavy price tags while some are very reasonable.

1. Sine Qua Non Sta. Rita Hills The Naked Truth Grenache
2. Paso Creek Merlot 2005
3. Gridley Napa Valley Cabernet Franc 2005
4. Poggio II Castellare Brunello di Montalcino 2005
5. Modus Operandi Antithesis Red Wine 2007
6. Abeja Columbia Valley Merlot 2007
7. Vina Montes Purple Angel Colchagia Valley Carmenre 2007
8. Rustom Jee Barossa Valley Sandbox Shiraz 2006
9. Bodegas Atamisque Uco Valley Malbec 2007
10. Joseph Phelps California Insignia 2005
11. Alpha Omega Proprietary Red Wine, Cabernet Sauvignon 2006
12. Mollydooker The Boxwe Shiraz 2009
13. Olivier Hallaire Chateauneuf du Pape 2008
14. Finca Allendre Rioja Aurus 2006
15. Bodegas Tahuan Argentina Siesta Malbec 2007
16. Ehlers Estate St Helena Merlot 2007

What I learned about my tastes with this bracket…l I LOVE my big reds! I had more Shiraz from down under than I would have predicted. I still have not developed as much of a palette from French wines as I would like. I tried more Merlots than I thought last year and the biggest lesson I learned is I an absoultly remember who I was with or where I was when I had each of these wines. Which brings me back to the fact that wine for me is as much about the experience as it is about the wonderful flavors.

Starting Monday we will work through my brackets and see who comes up on top! Have a great weekend and watch buzzer beaters and 3 pointers and enjoy some great wines!

Much LOVE and wine,

Tammi