Wine Alert: Firestick 2005 Cabernet Merlot

I didn't know what to expect when I saw the white lightning in a purple sky. Singing in the purple rain, perhaps. But I was pleasantly surprised at this deep purple painkiller solvent.

The light currant/berry Cabernet flavour is much enriched in dark and mysterious ways by the Merlot mystique. As the wine warms in your mouth, you will taste something a lot like chocolate; it becomes a bit like drinking dark-chocolate-coated raisins dissolved in alcohol – a kind of tincture of comfort-food.

The wine can't be left out too long; these flavours seem volatile and rapidly degenerate to a sour cheap Cabernet if allowed to stand at room temperature. This was discovered by tragic accident.

Oh yes, I've been experimenting with screw-capped wines, and I must say that the Wolf Blass 2006 ones are pretty good too.