We opened a recent auction purchase tonight, a 2001 Washington wine by winery Nota Bene (not to be confused with British Columbia's Black Hills Nota Bene) called 'Miscela' that's a blend of 49% merlot, 34% cabernet, and then cab franc with a mere dash of petite verdot. Not even sure if this winery's still in business. Paid $11 for it about six months ago--a bargain. It was quite interesting. We immediately dubbed it a 'centaur' in that the very attractive sweet, tangy and spicy front end nose and initial taste that struck us both as sangiovese-like bore no resemblance to the savory, black coffee-dominated finish. The acids at first seemed quite obvious--Bob at first thought it Italian--but over the course of the two hours it took us to finish the bottle the acidity dropped out and there were no tannins to hold those last sips together. Would have been very successful at a dinner party where everybody got a modest first glass but no seconds, and in fact it was fairly successful on our sofa for a wine we had absolutely no expectations for.
Btw, if anyone knows what 'Miscela' means we'd appreciate learning. We wondered if it wasn't, as the title suggests, a clever way of implying 'miscellany'.