Ok, so not really “Girls night out,” more like “Girl (singular) night in.”  Last night the fiancé was out at a work function and I, after a rather miserable day for a variety of reasons, decided to indulge in a little cheese plate  (indulge responsibly, notice the smaller portions of cheese and larger portion of grapes!) of a stinky aged brie, a mild blue, fig jam and of course membrillo for dinner.  I also watched “Percy Jackson and the Olympians – The Lightening Thief,” and I must say it instilled quite a sense of Greek pride.  I totally plan on raising my kids to believe they are actually descendants of the Gods.  If you ever knew my Greek grandfather you would know that the claim isn’t too far off…  But anyway, great girly night cuddled up on the couch with my blanket and my kitty.  So what, you ask, it that bottle of wine I picked up pictured above?  Well, I literally walked into the liquor store, looked at the bottle, saw it’s busy-ness and Ed Hardy-like illustrations and said, “Ugh, I would NEVER buy that wine.” And then I immediately stopped and realized that for those very reasons I HAD to buy that wine!  How many times to we buy a wine because we are attracted to the label?  It is often how we come across new and exciting products, so I wanted to see what would happen if I bought something I was rather put off by.  So I bought three bottles of Bear Flag wine, two reds and a white, on sale 3 bottles for $25.  All three are blends from a collection of vineyards in central California.  I started off with the “Smooth Red Blend,” a blend of tempranillo, touriga, zinfandel, and alicante bouschet.  Now, in blended wines one traditionally lists varietals in order of their prominence in the wine, leading me to believe that this was primarily a tempranillo wine and thus would share some similarities to other tempranillos that I know and love.  Well, I was WAY off.  This wine surprised me, it was actually on the sweeter side!  At first I didn’t think I was going to love it, but after sipping my first glass slowly and nibbling on my cheeses I really started to dig it.  It was a great compliment to the strong flavors and I feel it almost acted like the fig jam or membrillo by adding a level of sweetness to the palate.  I could see this wine being great with spicy Indian food or thick, creamy comfort food like mac & cheese or lasagna.  A cool feature on their website, they actually have a “Find Us” function where you can plug in your zip code and get a list of stores in your area that supply Bear Flag wine.  How cool is THAT?  So all in all, I think I would recommend this seemingly off-putting selection to those brave wine drinkers who are looking for something a little different!  I will report back on the other selections I picked up, in the meantime check out the “Find US” function and see if you can find a bottle of your own to try!  Happy Friday to all!!