I should tell you that I am an optimistic wine drinker. I expect every bottle to be at least good. And in fact, nowadays, most wines are good. There is much more constancy in wines than in days of old. This does not mean that outstanding wines are not being created. I think it does mean that a lot of good wines are.

The Roshambo Winery in and around the Russian River Valley in California is a very good winery. I can’t say that they’ve made any outstanding wines, but they have made very good wines. They are an irreverent winery. They host ‘goth-like’ parties. They have wild art displayed on their tasting room walls. They are a bunch of punks and they know it. But, and here is the important part, they have fun making and selling good wines.

Their 2001 Petite Sirah is a very good wine. It’s almost black in the glass. The nose is black-cherry like. Your first sample will hit the tip of your tongue with nice full fruit. Mid-palate are some fairly complex plumy flavors with some light peppery notes. The finish is not especially long and trails off nicely.

I offer this wine because I was tasting it as I was reading singleGuyChef’s Grilled Lamb Chops with Chick Pea and Rosemary Ragout recipe that he posted on June 4, 2007. Why oh why didn’t he invite me over? This is the perfect wine for the dish. Its fruit would go perfectly with the lamb. The Rosemary Ragout would bring out the herbal notes in the wine. Asparagus? Oh yeah. Baby potatoes? Certainly. This would have been a great addition to what looked like a great recipe. And knowing, him…it was a great recipe.

I don’t know if you’ll find a bottle of this in the store, after all, it is six years old. It went for around fifteen dollars when we bought it; don’t pass up a purchase of a Roshambo wine. They’re irreverent and they make good wines too.

We couldn’t find the label for the wine so we’re putting up Roshambo’s rule#1. It shows how this winery feels about drinking wine and is a great rule to go by. Learn more about Roshambo’s other rules.

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