1) Carro Tinto, 2005 (Yecla [Murcia], Spain) - This was recommended in a store as an unbelievable value at $10, and surely it sold out by the 2nd time I went to that store.  I'll be honest, I liked it, I do think it's a good value at $10, but I wasn't blown away.  On the plus side it was a smoother and more balanced wine then a lot of the other fruit blasters from Spain.  It's 50% Monastrell, 20% Syrah, 20% Tempranillo, and 10% Merlot and to me Monastrell clearly was the dominant flavor.

2) Boutari Nemea, 2004 (Greece) - This is the well respected Agiorgitiko grape from Greece.  I bought this because previously all I knew from Greece were the Achaia Clauss Demestica wines, which are OK but clearly just dry affordable table wines.  I looked through a variety of Greek wines on the store shelf trying to find instead something a step up from Demestica.  How'd I do?  I'd say this one was pretty much indistinguishable from Demestica.

3) La Fleur D'Or, Sauternes, 2002 (Barsac Gironde, France) - Ahh, I'd heard about Sauternes, the famous sweet wine from France, but never tried it before.  I'm not normally a sweet wine drinker but I found this in a smaller 375ml bottle.  It sat in the fridge for quite a while.  When I finally opened it I'd say I was pleased with the sweet white wine flavor.  It's a high note sweet, like a fructose sweet instead of an added sugar sweet.  We both liked it, although I can't say either of use were blown away.  I think one big compliment I want to pay to Sauternes is it accomplishes the sweet without an elevated alcohol content.  That's a very big plus - unique among most sweet wines.

4) Barbadillo, La Cilla, Pedro Ximenez, Sherry (Spain) - Wow, wow, wow.  Yum, yum, yum.  This tobacco brown elixer tastes like burnt sugar and caramel.  Just a single drop on your tongue is a flavor explosion like the most opulent dessert.  It's wine candy.  I enjoy this so much more than any other sweet wine I've reviewed (it's Nancy's favorite of the bunch too).  Clearly at 17.5% it has a lot of alcohol, but it takes so little to get the flavor punch, and it's alcohol is actually lower than the Port I reviewed which doesn't hold a candle in comparison of flavors.  This will be a cherished mainstay in my wine collection and always in stock.  I'm so glad it comes in full sized 750ml bottle, although that should last me a long time.