Vintage Ink lives up to its stylish looks

You can't always tell a wine by its bottle.

But, in the case of Vintage Ink, which sells for less than $10, you are getting plenty of bang for the buck in addition to that good-looking bottle.

Produced by a division of the giant Constellation group, this is a really tasty wine, made from grapes grown in the vast Central Coast area of California.

It is easy to make bad wine, but much more difficult to get it just right, the way Vintage Ink does here. But we have to remember that 2005 was the most successful vintage in the world and just about anything you can find in wine from that year is going to be worth your time.

You would be amiss not to try this delicious offering, made in the style of a juicy bottle of Right Bank Bordeaux wine with a twist. It is highly recommended for everyday consumption.

In the glass, Vintage Ink is a deeply opaque blackish-red color with a dense, inky core going out into a fine ruby-red rim definition with medium-high viscosity.

On the nose, it offers immediate fruit-filled bliss, brimming with crushed blackberries, blueberry pie, elder fruit, then hints of vanilla bean, soft minerality and faint oak.

In the mouth, it is as juicy as the nose promises, with rich, voluptuous black and red berry fruit medley, raspberry coulis, black cherry sorbet, cran-blueberry juice and soft velvety tannins that carry it through the midpalate and into the long, balanced finish, showing yet more fruit as in a roll-up.

With all the fruit and freshness, it is a wine that clearly plays on the American palate, but it also has a serious enough structure that the grapes must have come from excellent vineyards. Enjoy it with pizza or pasta Bolognese, but you might want to crack it open about 30 minutes before consumption. Drink it now through 2009.

Wine: Vintage Ink

Grapes: Cabernet sauvignon (85 percent), merlot (10 percent), syrah (5 percent)

Region: Central Coast, Calif.

Vintage: 2005

Price: $9.99

Gil Lempert-Schwarz's wine column appears Wednesdays. Write him at P.O. Box 50749, Henderson, NV 89016-0749, or e-mail him at gil@winevegas.com.