Red Belly Black Australian Shiraz 2006 $7.99

 RANKING: SERVE TO GUESTS

This couldn’t work.  To kill bugs you have to crush them or spray them.  The pheromone baited trap for Japanese beetles just didn’t seem…well…lethal enough.  But the hummingbirds and bees (bees are disappearing from what I read?)were on the same trees and plants that the beetles were feasting on so a poison spray attack just didn’t seem like a great idea.  So I bought four traps and put them up around the trees that these bonzai beetles were treating as if they were at a  leafy buffet.

While I was baiting the traps, I accidentally got a little of the stink-bait on my hands, thus  as I’m walking towards the trees…it begins.  Almost out of nowhere these lousy navigators strafed me bouncing off of my neck, my head and mostly my hands!  I hung up the first trap and it was amazing!  It looked like a new singles bar had opened in beetle-town.  They swarmed all over the bag trap and the branches closest to it.  I finished putting up the rest of the traps and went to wash my hands (quickly so as not to be confused with a potential beetle mama).  Job well done…I opened a nice little Shiraz named after a poisonous Eastern Australian snake, the red belly black.  To my readers sorry, I couldn’t find a wine named after a beetle.    Just the same I really liked this Shiraz.

The next day I went out to check the traps. (Readers discretion advised on this next part) The bags were FULL!  Needing to swap out the bags I grabbed the side of the first one to unhook it and…yikes…it was alive!  The bag was moving and buzzing and pulsating and well..it was like a beetle rave!  How often was I going to have to do this??  Literally every day for a week.  That’s a lot of dead beetles.  Just the same, I am convinced.  Beetle traps are far more deadly than poisonous sprays.  Isn’t it amazing how sexdrive can make a beetle fall into a trap?  OR, is that only beetles? hmmm 

What Others Say: Tasting Notes
From Angoves’s website: “Deep purple with brooding red hues, this rich, full bodied wine shows ripe plum, cherry, and licorice fruit on the nose. This wine is ideal with your favourite red meat or hearty pasta dishes.”

What  I Thought: I enjoyed this wine quest…great little wine (why do people say that…this wine is the same size as the others.)surprisingly rich and fruity flavor.  I let this one air out a bit as I finished working in the yard and being assaulted by horny beetles.  Had this good cheap wine along with a hot dog right off the grill.  (I am such a gourmet chef right.)  Nice lasting finish with a good appearance in the glass.  Use full-mouthed stemware or a cool tumbler and serve this good cheap wine to guests.  Make sure and wash the beetle bringing pheromone off of your hands first..or not…that could be interesting.
Cheers from the Wine Oaf

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