I guess it’s about that time of the year when our major wine importers start sourcing new products for the Christmas season. I think there are at least a dozen new wines on the market, so over the course of the last weekend, as friends popped in and out, we tasted a few. Today I share my thoughts on the bigger, bolder, darker styles.

Ménage à Trois Midnight Dark Red Blend

This wine was an instant crowd-pleaser. According to its producers, a Napa Valley winery named Folie a Deux, this wine is created to be bold and sensual-even a tad risqué. When you consider the fact that it is made with a blend of Merlot (44%), Cabernet Sauvignon (42%), Petite Sirah (11%), Petit Verdot (3%), you will come to understand where this deep dark garnet colour in the glass came from. The red fruit jumps, filling your nose, hugging you, pulling you in to taste it.

As I am wiring this, I pause to go and pour another glass of the Ménage à Trois Midnight Dark Red Blend, because I want to ensure that the gobs of juiciness that my visitors raved about 24 hours ago was still there, and they are! The writers of the official tasting notes got this right when they said: “Voluptuous blackberry and plush spiced plum flavours seduce your palate, while hints of mocha and exotic spice linger on your lips like a stolen kiss. Silky and smooth with a long, powerful finish, you’ll wish midnight could last forever.” I agree. Harbour Wines & Spirits from GraceKennedy has got a winner on their hands.

19 Crimes 2014 Red Blend

When my partner in wine and life told me that importer Betco Premier has a new red blend from Australia on the market, I can’t say I jumped for joy as too many of these full-bodied, low-tannin designer wines are already on the market with little distinction between them; but when I saw the label on the bottle, all of a sudden I was intrigued. What could possibly have inspired a name like ’19 Crimes’? There had to be a story and here is the short version. 19 Crimes wine takes its name from a list of 19 crimes drawn up to address the problem of overrun jails in 18th-century England. Upon conviction, British rogues guilty of those crimes were sentenced to Australia – ‘punishment by transportation’ – rather than death.

This Australian wine celebrates the pioneering spirit of these ‘bad seeds’ and the wine they inspired born out of a second chance. Initially made exclusively for Canada, 19 Crimes first debuted in 2011 bearing the mug shots and true stories of convicts. On this Red Blend label, appears a photo of John Boyle O’Reilly, the Irish-born poet, journalist and fiction writer. As a youth in Ireland, he was a member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, for which he was transported to Western Australia. After escaping to the United States, he became a prominent spokesperson for the Irish community and culture, through his editorship of the Boston newspaper The Pilot, his prolific writing, and his lecture tours.

19 Crimes is mainly Shiraz with Pinot Noir, Grenache and Cabernet Sauvignon blended in. Deep dark red in the glass, on the nose are aromas of new wood, some smokiness and light red fruit. On the palate, I found this wine on the lighter side, not unpleasantly so, but when you see Cab and Shiraz make up the blend there is some expectation. If big, honking wines are not your style, you will love this fun, fruit-forward, spicy wine.

Next week Thursday, we share more new discoveries.

Christopher Reckord – Entrepreneur & Wine Enthusiast. Send your questions and comments to creckord@gmail.com. Instagram: @chrisreckord Twitter: @Reckord