Drinking Reds

Fall. The leaves change, tennis moves indoors, put away the deck chairs, find the crockpot and the fleece.

And we start (keep) drinking some reds.

Bodegas Atalaya: 91 Points - Jay Miller of The Wine Advocate thinks this is a wine you might want to sleep with: "This is the first release of Atalaya. The 2007 Atalaya is a blend of Monastrell, Garnacha Tintorera, and other red grapes... purple-colored wine has an expressive bouquet of violets, spice box, leather, game, blueberry, and black cherry. On the palate it comes off as borderline kinky and definitely sexy with lots of easy-going flavor, superb depth, complexity, and a 45-second finish."

North Fork: We want them to good. Wouldn't that be grand? Drive out to the North Fork and grab a great wine. Some of them are good. But they're not a reliable bunch. So I skip them unless someone knows something I don't.

Pinot Noir: We like Copain, Londer, Calera, Raye's Hill, Goldeneye and Migration are a few CA pinots we like. A lot.

Syrah: Copain "L'Hiver" is a lovely silky Syrah, not too big and not too pricey.

Ribera: Man, they're good. Not too big, not too flashy, very reliable. You can't go very wrong with Arrocal. Really any of them. Here are some we like.

Bordeaux. I've been thinking a lot about Bordeaux. It's a very interesting brand: tripartite (basically corresponding to high, medium and plonk. We're not talking about three party harmony here. Forbes piece on cellarable and drinkable is worth a look. Drop some scratch and they won't disappoint. More here.

Speaking of wine labels (not), here is a cool collection from WebUrbanist.com of creative wine labels. The Wineline crew has not tasted Big Ass Red, as of yet. (And you can make your own damn label here).

Questions:
Does Bordeaux Superieur a designation we can trust?
Is there a new recipe for Merlot-rich, soft on tannin, high on drinkability, low on complexity Bordeaux? Like Kurt Courban?