Artist Wines No. 8

ARTIST WINES! - Uncorking musician-priced cellar secrets

Select Red, OKV Okanagan Vineyards, BC VQA 2012

Price: $9.99  SBH Rating: ♪♬ 🎶♬ ☼☼

This is a mystery blend selling at just under $10 a bottle. That's here in BC. In the rest of the world this bottle would sell for about $3 or $4 and at that price how could you be disappointed? Worth every penny! This is actually a pretty good pizza wine. Loads of cherries, a hint of apricot, and while it isn't velvety going down, I would definitely put it in the category of velveteen. The homebrew-like label is especially hideous though and might put your guests off, so I recommend pouring this into another vessel for an extra special artist wine experience. Even an old milk jug would look better. (What were they thinking?!)

Drink with: Minnie Riperton's Midnight at the Oasis

Artist Wines No. 7

ARTIST WINES! - Uncorking musician-priced cellar secrets

Crios Malbec, Mendoza, Argentina 2012

Price: $14.99  SBH Rating: ♪♪♪♬ and 1/8 🌜

Stiff nose of strong perfume, with an under-toning essence of moss. Raisins, lilacs, and leather intermingle sassily, finishing off with a tasty drop of cowboy’s sweat.

♪Pairs well with: Ástor Piazzolla’s Libertango

Artist Wines No. 6

ARTIST WINES! - Uncorking musician-priced cellar secrets

Monasterio de las Viñas, Garnacha, Tempranillo & Cariñena, Spain 2006

Price: $14.93  SBH Rating: ♬ 🎶 ♬ 🎶♬ 🎶 🎶♬

A wine to imbibe immediately! Smokey and toothsome, I'd like to put a tie on this handsome wine and take it out dancing. This Spanish vino knows all the moves, from the floral nose and dulcet undertones to the long drag of a finish, circling and circling like cigar smoke rings you gently wrap around your finger.  You know - the other kind of intoxicating...

Serve with: Beef brisket, specifically the kind found in the fabulous meat pies from Black Rook Bakehouse on Hastings in Vancouver. This wine really comes to life listening to a little Sunday night jazz by Danish pianist Søren Bebe.

Artist Wines No. 5

ARTIST WINES! - Uncorking musician-priced cellar secrets

Jackson Triggs, Proprietors' Selection Shiraz, Blended from Canada and International wines. Unknown year (...always a great sign)

Price: $9.79  SBH Rating: ♬ 🎶 # and a shake of the leg

This is the ultimate artist wine. "Cheap, cheap, cheap," sang the birds, while the musicians exclaimed in surprise, "It doesn't burn going down!"  7 extra points for that, JT! Fruity with hints of bark, you could pour this wine into an empty, much fancier bottle (say, $14), take it to your next party, and maybe, just maybe, get away with it.

Serve with: A dose of Randy Newman's poetic wisdom.

Artist Wines No. 4

ARTIST WINES! - Uncorking musician-priced cellar secrets

Lobatia Tempranillo, Spain 2012

Price: $13.99  SBH Rating: ♪ ♬ 🎶 and 3/5 🌜

This wine is organic. It says so three times on the bottle, so don't forget. This is really an $11.99 bottle of wine (BC pricing) but I'm willing to pay extra for an organic experience. I also blame this excessively grapey vino for my sudden and dramatic programming change for a concert next week. "One more sip and you'll no longer be able to escape Franz Joseph's charms," it taunted me. (That's Joseph Haydn to you.) So here we are. I dedicate the Hoboken XVI: 50 to Lobetia.  If my second movement has hints of clay and lilac, you'll know where my inspiration came from.

Serve with:  The 4th edit of your latest album

Artist Wines No. 3

ARTIST WINES! - Uncorking musician-priced cellar secrets

Campo Viejo Rioja Crianza, Spain 2009

Price: $14.99 (on sale!)  SBH Rating: ♪ ♬ ☼ ♫ ♬ 🎶

Prepare to have visions of prancing around in daisy fields with a mouthful of succulent raspberries. The sun is shining, your arms stretch out in delight, and berry juice delightfully dribbles down your chin. This bottle contains a pinch of excitement, a pint of satisfaction, and a dash of sweet romance. *smack* and a couple of x’s and o’s.

Serve with:  Django Reinhardt’s “Tea for Two”

Artist Wines No. 2

ARTIST WINES! - Uncorking musician-priced cellar secrets

Long Flat Cabernet Shiraz, Australia 2009
Price: $10.99  SBH Rating: ♬ ♯ & a 3/4 🎻

Challenging but intriguing nose. Leathery underbelly, with a mild threat to put hair on your chest.

Really really requires an aged cheddar. Do not mess around with this. If you don't oblige, this wine will literally makes its way to the refrigerator and find the cheese on its own.

Surprisingly cheerful finish. Evidently, this is a wine for optimists!

Serve with:  Beethoven's Sonata Opus 54