Try it, you'll like it! Elk Creek Vineyards' Bone Dry Red

Sorry for the radio silence, Loueyvillagers. Mama's had a complicated couple of weeks. Some good (business travel and... uh, well, business travel) and some bad (death and sickness and work-overload at Meatspace job). But things are leveling out now.

Luckily, things rarely ever get so bad that they can't be made at least a little better by a good glass of wine. And luckily x2, Elk Creek Vineyards sent me three bottles of wine this week. (that, kiddos, is my disclaimer) Luckily x3, the bottle I cracked open the other day, Bone Dry Red Cabernet Sauvignon, was (is-- I'm drinking the last of it right now) so yummy I would have gladly paid for it. So yummy, in fact, I just may go out and buy myself another bottle.

In my very limited experience, local wines have leaned toward the fruity side: super sweet and sugary. And that's not necessarily a bad thing. Grandma Lou-- bless her heart-- and I usually kill a whole bottle of Catawba whenever we're together, and that stuff is like dissolving a packet of Lick Em Sticks in a glass of Mountain Dew. Once, when I was living at a writer's retreat in Arkansas, I spent a month drinking gallon after gallon (yep, it came only by the gallon) of liquid cotton candy called Maiden's Blush (yep, typical writer). Loved it. Wish we could get it here.

But Bone Dry is a "big girl" wine. It's chocolate-y and coffee-y and complicated. And like other "big girl" wines, the flavor changes as it breathes and matures. It is dry, but I wouldn't say it's Bone dry. I don't like my wines too dry, and this one isn't. I had my first few glasses from the bottle two days ago, and two days later it's really just as good. It's sweet and warm, and at 13.8% alcohol, it'll make your cheeks blush after just a glass (or is that just me?). According to the website, Bone Dry retails for $19.99. Totally worth it.

I suppose you could be forgiven for assuming, at first glance, that Bone Dry is going to be a novelty beverage. It is, after all, a Halloween-themed wine. But it turns out that Elk Creek comes by it's Halloweeny-ness honestly; the owner of the vineyard, Curtis Sigretto, also founded Halloween Express, the #2 Halloween costume and accessory retailer in the country. This is someone who takes one of my favorite holidays pretty seriously. And that's reflected in the label art; it features a sufficiently creepy human skeleton. Sure, it telegraphs "Halloween," but it's also arty enough to grace the table at a classy Halloween dinner party. (Is there such a thing as a classy Halloween dinner party? If so, please invite me.)

I have two more bottles of Elk Creek wine to try out, so you'll get at least two more posts about this local vineyard from me. I'm very intrigued by Elk Creek Vineyards. They have a store in the Mall of St. Matthews (which I haven't been to yet). The vineyard also has an inn, which looks like the perfect fall weekend getaway. Now that my Meatspace job has settled down a bit, and I am almost over my nagging cold, I'm going to put a little time and effort into sussing out some more about Elk Creek. I'll report back.