Wine of the Week

I poured this wine for friends at dinner last week, and it stopped the conversation cold. The first taste is of juicy ripe red plums. Another sip brings out a thread of something darker, more elegant. This soft, opulent wine from the Duero River in Old Castille is the very color of Dorothy’s ruby-red slippers. Made from Tinta del Pais, a local variant of Tempranillo, it’s a wine for almost any food. Gorgeous! And at this price, a steal.

About $20. Available at Wine House in Santa Monica, (310) 479-3731; Wine Exchange in Orange, (714) 974-1454; and Woodland Hills Wine Company in Woodland Hills, (818) 222-1111, among others. If you can’t find this wine, have your local retailer contact the distributor, Associated Wine Distributors, (707) 963-8055.