Dr. Konstantin Frank, Fleur de Pinot Noir, Year? (New York) - I was so excited to try this because I had read in wine books that Dr. Frank was a major historical figure in the choices of which grape vines and which vineyard techniques were adopted in this country.  Plus I've had very few wines from New York.  And this sounded good..."an elegantly flavored Beaujolais style... abundant cherry and spice" according to the back label.  Sorry, but this was a big let down.  The only similarity to beaujolais might be mechanical, the way the wine was made, because it tastes nothing like one.  I get no cherry at all.  Honestly I barely found the wine drinkable.  I don't know, maybe this sat in the wine store so long it lost it's original charm.  Maybe I got a bad bottle.  In any case it took a lot of self convincing to not give this a 1 out of 10 (meaning never buy it again).  Instead I'll go 3 out of 10 (far below average/poor).  I'd be willing to give Dr. Frank a 2nd chance but only with a different kind of wine.

2) Columbia Crest Grand Estates Assemblage, Cabernet Sauvignon, 2002 (Columbia Valley, Washington) - There are two brands out of the Northwest I run into a lot in liquor stores, this is one and Chateau Ste. Michelle is the other.  I've also read in various books and wine magazines that they both for various reasons are considered quality wines and good values.  If you look way back in my reviews you'll find one for a Chateau St. Michelle and it did well.  That bottle was around $15 whereas this Columbia Crest is $8 so keep that in mind... as I drag down this latest sample.  So, this cab is pretty lame.  Yes it has some flavor but nothing I'd call special or standout.  The weight is light and more like a pinot noir which in my experience usually means it's a cheap cab which has been dressed up in processing to be more agreeable.  The label is pomp marketing.  They go out of the way to tell us how to prounce Assemblage (Ah-Sohm-BLAH).  Well, they got the BLAH part right.  And then the label goes on to talk about it's "artisan winemaking approach", "distinguished vineyard", and the "distinctive richness featuring black cherry and cocoa flavors".  Lah-do-DAH.  I'm really not impressed.  Sure it's an $8 wine.  But I'd call this cheap low average.  I'm still going to give it a 5 out of 10 but unlike other affordable wines I recommend as good values I really can't encourage buying this one unless your budget is stretched tight.  I think I'll give Chateau Ste. Michelle some more business instead.

3) Red Flyer, 2003 (California) - I'm going to tell you right at the top that this is simply an average ordinary blended red which I'll score 5 out of 10 for low average.  Apparently it's in a Rhone wine style although I didn't really get that from the taste.  The neat thing about this wine, and the aspect I'm mainly going to talk about, is the clever label and marketing of it.  If you buy this wine you do it either because the label catches your eye or you plan to give it to someone else and have them have the same "huh, look at that" reaction.    On the front you have a 50's movie style UFO in red above a modern city and with an movie flyer billboard of "Rhone Planet Invades".  It's really handsome and fun.  On the back the aliens have landed and are carrying grape vines and a computer monitor tells this story in old DOS style font: "It was during the darkest days of the war of the wines that the battle over clones were the fiercest.  The Rhone Rebel Labs worked late into night trying to develop an advantage.  New clones included 777, 15, and 337.  There were rumors of cuttings smuggled from France and of a robotic clone: 00100100011.  Late that night we had no choice but to accept the gift from the small gray man with the odd features.  So you ask me the secret of our success? (Pause) clone: We obtain our cuttings from a higher source."  Oh, so much fun to read an look at.  So anyway, really cool bottle and labels, simply average wine.