Exactly what is a “red blend”? 

Virtually anything a winemaker wants it to be.

The only requirement: 

it has to be a combination of more than one red grape variety. 

With that less-than-confining prerequisite,

it’s no wonder that the shelves bulge

with variations on the red blend theme. 

At Pat The Wine Guy, we focus on red blends

 priced between $10-$25. 

Most of those wines are combos of cabernet, syrah, merlot. 

But our latest recommendation is none of the above.

For Wine Thursday!

our weekly good-wine-at-a-good-price

that-you-can-find recommendation,

we’re featuring a red blend

that brings together a couple of strange bedfellows.

Bogle’s 2015 Phantom consists

of essentially equal parts

of zinfandel and petite sirah…

not your everyday red blend formula. 

The result is a full-bodied, spicy deep-dark red.

   It’s peppery with hints of licorice and dark fruit. 

Open this one up well in advance of drinking…

at least an hour…to give it time to smooth out. 

http://phantomwine.com/wines/red-blend/#

We found Bogle 2015 Phantom

at Fred Meyer for $19.49

and at Safeway and QFC for $19.99.