Frontier Red, California

In the book The Road, Cormac McCarthy realizes a bitter fact about the human condition and voices it through the character of the man: "We forget the things we want to remember and remember the things we want to forget".

The delicious, excellent red blend of the title embodies this acute dichotomy very well. I remember that we purchased only two bottles of this 19 dollar red, recommended by the independent wine store clerk in Winnipeg (let the words roll in your mouth a little and see how good they feel: independent wine store). Doubtful this wine could be found anywhere between Kenora and Cornwall, a region I will refer to, with respect to wine selling and buying, as retarded.

I forget that this red was a bold, almost raunchy wine that really, really warmed the cockles. This wine comes at you with an easy smile and lets you know that you'll be well taken care of and that you can trust it fully. And trust it we did; at 15.5% abv the short-lived bottles probably have much to do with my pathetic memory of the tasty Syrah, Grenache, Cinsault, Mouvedre and Carignane mash-up they contained. We liked it so much we brought home an empty bottle. Who does that?

People who don't remember, that's who.