"Paws" and
Celebrate Any Time,
But Definitely on Pet-Themed Holidays
By Susan Bard Hall
While reputation alone is sufficient to sell some wines, many others are destined to get lost on the store shelf without a massive infusion of marketing dollars or a catchy name to hook the consumer. And speaking of hooks, or maybe claws would be more appropriate, pet ownership in the United States is at a record high (more than half of all households have at least one cat or dog or both), which might help to explain why there are so many new wines with pet appellations.
Whether these wines with the creative names and labels are worth the cost is totally up to the consumer, but one thing is certain: they definitely are conversation pieces. So next time you need that purr-fect hostess gift or just want to "paws" and celebrate, here are some wines you might want to try:
• Chateau La Paws, Cote Du Bone Roan, a Red Table Wine from the San Francisco Bay by Rosenblum Cellars. Look for the distinctive paw prints and dog bone on the label and cap. Retails for about $10 a bottle. Wine Spectator gave the 2000 vintage an 86 rating and Senior Editor James Laube called this wine one of the "Best-Value California Rhone-Style Wines" in the January 31-February 28, 2002 issue. No frou-frou wine here. The 2001 is on the shelves now. The bottle I opened had a bit of a bite, so I'm letting the others sit awhile.
• Black Mountain Vineyard Fat Cat® Cabernet Sauvignon from California. It's probably good luck to drink this wine and see a black cat cross your path. But why wait 'til Friday the thirteenth to find out? It's not in the same class as the great California cabs, but at $7 a bottle, it costs only a fraction of what they do. The 2000 is drinkable now, though a little rough around the edges. The winemaker says it will stand up to five years of cellaring.
