Went to World Mar­ket a few weeks back, and bought a mixed case. Among the var­i­ous and sundry vari­etals we assem­bled were four bot­tles not plagued with World Market’s ten­dency to cork­ing: McMa­nis Fam­ily Vine­yards Petite Sirah 2005. That’s five or six bot­tles of other things corked, four bot­tles of this not corked. Caveat lec­tor; maybe we’re just relieved.

Use all the wine-​​snobbery you want: it’s a kick-​​in-​​the-​​head, potent, herby, grapey, rather won­der­ful win­ter brew, with some tangy acid­ity but lots of com­pen­sat­ing prune-​​like den­sity. Not your sub­tle kind of thing, don’cha know. Drink with rel­ish… or ketchup, or what­ever. My advice, in gen­eral, is to drink it for the wine, not for the accompaniment—unless the accom­pa­ni­ment be robust and potent in its own right. Rose­mary, gar­lic, cap­sicum, black pep­per, 70% cacao—that sort of thing.

Get­ting a case.