Corvidae Rook Cabernet Merlot Syrah 08

Corvidae Wine Company's "Rook" blended red wine is a crowd-pleaser. With a robust nose of rich black cherry, mocha, and a whiff of Syrah smoke, this is definitely not a shy wine. Lots of ripe fruit flavors are here, with cassis and plums dominating. It's all kept in balance by ample acidity and chewy tannins.

Pair this big red by hook or by crook (!) with almost anything off the grill, salmon or steak, chops or chicken, you get the idea.

45% Merlot
40% Syrah
15% Cab Sauv

A little more than half of the fruit for this wine comes from the organically farmed Ironbird Vineyard in the Applegate Valley in Southern Oregon. Here the fruit hangs well into late October which delivers exuberant fruit flavors and tremendous color. 34% comes from St. Isidore Vineyard in Walla Walla on the Oregon side of the AVA. The remaining15% is from Erickson Vineyard in the dry Columbia Valley. This site gives more complexity to the wine and riper flavors.

Owen Roe's logo for Rook says:
"Lucky at cards..."

Corvidae's Rook is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, and Merlot. The ripe and rich Cabernet flavors prevail - juicy loganberry, cassis, and a base note of black plum and cherry. Syrah adds richness, and Merlot smooths the velvet finish.

As we've come to expect, Owen Roe has created another amazing value.

"Color is a dark maroon with a bit of purple, just slightly lighter than the Washington wine. Nice fruity nose of blackberries with just a touch of plums and earth. Quite smooth in the mouth, although lacking a bit on the mid-palate...Seems somewhat thin there. Tastes of black fruit and some bittersweet chocolate, with Asian spices, following to a medium length finish. A very tasty blend, but seems like it needs something on the mid-palate." -Riding Shotgun on the Hell Express- blog, August 2009

"Corvidae" is named for the family of birds that includes crows and ravens. Crows have a long history in folklore and mythology. David was inspired to name the label Corvidae by the many crows that circle the sky over his winery in Yakima.

Each Corvidae wine is named with a particular fairy tale, fable, or legend in mind. "Rook" references the legendary luck associated with crows. "Lenore" is named for Edgar Allan Poe's poem "The Raven". "Fable" is inspired by the story of the fox and the crow and its moral- "Beware of Flatterers". "Mirth" refers to an old nursery rhyme about magpies. More wines in the series will be named for other references to crows in folklore.