1) Kphtikoe, Vin de' Crete, Vilana 2005 (Crete, Greece) - The latest sampled by our wine tasting club at work.  It's a decent smooth white, neither bad nor a standout.  We'd drink it again.  The grape varietal poster said it has hints of banana and lemon.  Those flavors didn't hit us right away and the more accurate description is your mouth eventually feels like the after taste after you've swallowed banana.  And I'm curious whether that banana sensation is solely due to the grape variety or due to a yeast they use to make this in Crete.  In my earlier hobby days I remember reading that Achaia Clauss, the most famous of the Greek wine makers and exporters, used to use a yeast that gave a banana quality to some of their wines but they stopped it because it didn't appeal to everyone.  Well, this wine is also from Greece so maybe they still use that yeast in Crete?  I don't really have a Crete benchmark to compare it to, but compared to Achai Clauss who's wines I gave a 4 to in the past I'd give this a 5 for lower average.

2) El Toqui, Reserva, Cabernet Sauvignon, 2004 (Cachapoal Valley, Chile) - Another example of a South American wine interconnected with the famous wine chateaus of France - in this case Chateau Larose Trintaudon.  I'll happily say this had nice cab flavor and was an all around upper average cab.  And it isn't a bordeaux style like the French wines from that chateau, this is very much in a new world style - yet not overblown.  A quality cab.  6 out of 10 for upper average.

3) Echelon, Esperanza Vineyard, Viognier, 2004 (Clarksburg, San Luis Obispo, California) - I'd never tried viognier before but had heard a co-worker is really into it.  This was about a $12 bottle I think so it's probably not the best viognier, but it wasn't a cheap mass marketed one either.  Well, it's OK.  Nancy didn't like it, thought it tasted bitter.  To me it had more aromatics than the average white and the dominant flavor in this one I had a hard time putting my finger on but I've settled for melon rind.  I wouldn't say that's unpleasant, just kind of weird.  Nancy didn't want any more of it so over a few days I finished the bottle.  I probably need a better sample of viognier in the future, but I expect I'll be the only one drinking it at home when I do.  5 out of 10 for lower average, mainly because I have nothing decent to compare it to.

4) Thorny Devil, Shiraz, 2003 (Gundagai Region, Australia) - From the name and flashy label I thought this run a high risk of being bad wine in good marketing.  In this case I'll grant that the wine is at least lower average.  I had no problem drinking it, and it has decent flavor though weaker than a YellowTail or Layer Cake both of which far outshine this one.  I'd drink it again, but not buy it again other than sharing the name and label with someone.  5 out of 10 for lower average.