Hi, winos! It’s Week Eleven here at the wine club – time flies when you’re tasting wine, huh? This week our Wine God is silenus! silenus, lead us to the grapey Promised Land.
Week Ten thread is here. Week Ten’s wine was a Beaujolais.
The usual disclaimers apply; your mileage may vary; void where prohibited; do not fold spindle or mutilate.
Jodi: I’m thinking about joining, if admission is still open. Can you link to the earlier threads in your next OP? It think that would be helpful.
Well, all the threads link back to one another, but lemme see what I can do with my searchfu. Of course you are more than welcome to join us; the more the merrier. 
If you chime in for a couple weeks and decide this is your bag, baby, let me know and I’ll put you on the sommelier list. BRB with links, I hope.
velvetjones posted a list of the Wine Picks to date in the Week 9 thread, if you’re interested in that.
This wine club goes to eleven…
I actually have 2 wines for this week. One I am sure is nationally available, and one I’m not so sure about. Both are favorites at Casa Silenus. I was going to bomb everyone’s palates with a killer Zin, but the wife reminded me that school’s out, so I don’t have to be an ass anymore.
First selection: Rosemont Estates Diamond Label Shiraz-Cabernet Blend. The one I have in front of me is a 2003, but any vintage you can find will do. $7.99 at Costco. Lightly tannic, slightly acidic, fruity, it won’t kill those of you with softer palates. We generally serve it with pork, although it is good with burgers, pizza, or just about anything else.
Second selection: Fess Parker Frontier Red, Lot #71. I found this bottle at Bevmo, but we generally get a bottle or two as part of the Fess Parker Wine Club. $7.99. This is a great hamburger wine. It’s a blend of Syrah, Grenache, Petite Sirah, Mouvedre, Cinsault and Carignane. Don’t try to over-analyze it, just drink it.
Thanks!
This is my whole approach to drinking wine.
The Rosemont Estates Diamond Label Shiraz Cabernet blend is used as the altar wine at my Episcopal Church
You know, I always meant to convert…
Does not compute. 
I, for one, would have welcomed the fruit bomb. Our list has been pretty light on those. Unfortunately, it may be too dang hot for red wine here this weekend.
Jodi: I’m ready to sign up, so put me on the list when you get a chance.
For anyone who goes to a store with the wine organized by country, this is an Australian wine. I’ve had the Chenin Blanc before, but not the Shiraz-Cab blend. I’ll try to pick a bottle of this up today.
Jodi, if you wouldn’t mind, would you add me as well?
Fortunately, with the number of club members, I won’t have to contribute for many months. That should give me a chance to think about a worthy contribution. This all a bit new to me. (Not the drinking, but rather the critical analysis and comparisons). I’ve really appreciated all of your comments.
I also have some catching up to do. So far, I’ve had the Marques de Caceres Rioja Crianza (Week 7), and the Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc (Week 8). I’ve gone back and bought more bottles of each after trying them out, so great suggestions (to my mind). If the weather stays cool this weekend, I’ll probably have the Folie a Deux Menage a Trois (Week 1), or if it gets hot it will be the Smoking Loon Viognier (Week 9). I’ll also be out on errands near a place that I know stocks the Michele Chiarlo Barbera d’Asti (Week 6). Both the Rosemount and the Fess Parker should also be available, but I haven’t found the others. Yet. This is fun!
I like the historical Week references; I hope you keep that going. (If you repeat next time, Week 4 accidentally references Week 6).
Thank you.
My lucky day. While our local Spec’s in Houston does not carry the Frontier Red, they were running a special on the Rosemont. 1.5 L bottle - $9.00 ($7.00 discount).
Oh hell no.
I kid! You’re on the list, right behind John Mace.
Aw, nerts. Well, any search of “wine club” in Cafe Society will bring them all up.
Got mine at Safeway for the same price. Funky bottle…
edit: Same price for a 750ml bottle. I was robbed!!!
I wandered into Applejack this weekend, and they had a Fess Parker Frontier Red Lot #61, which I bought. Is this a different wine, or is the 71 a typo?
Different batch, same wine. I’d be a little leery of the #61, as by my reckoning that would be rather old, and this isn’t a wine that ages well. I’ll be interested to see how it held up.
I stopped by Whole Foods because they had a large sign out front advertising a “huge wine sale.” The sale was anything but huge, and they had a display of the Rosemont for $16.99 a bottle (us).
Our ususal grocery store has a large liquor department. They had the Rosemont for $7.99 a bottle with a $3.00 rebate if you purchase two bottles.
Since this is the wine used at our church, I was very familiar with it. It is smooth and pairs well with the pasta we had for dinner last night. My wife and daughter, who mainly like the sweet white wines liked it too.
Good choice. I plan to keep an eye out for the Fess Parker. World Market sells at least one wine from that winery.
Dang! I was just at the wine store yesterday.
I’ve seen the Rosemount at the grocery store (I think) but not familiar with the Fess Parker and now I really want to try it. I’ll see if World Market has it.
The Fess Parker Frontier Red is the bottom of the line blend from the winery. If you can find a bottle of the Pinot Noir, or better yet the Syrah, grab them. You won’t be sorry. Especially if you can find the vineyard-specific bottlings, like Rodney’s Vineyard. Fess and Eli are doing wonderful things in the Santa Ynez Valley.