The label calls this simply H3, and it’s an exceptional Cabernet Sauvignon from the Columbia Crest winery in Washington state. I picked it up because it had a rating of 92 from (I think) Wine Spectator. It seems they’ve been gradually deflating their scale a bit. It used to be you would rarely see anything below 92, and now I’m seeing a lot of 87’s and 88’s. This is definitely two or three hands taller than the normal horse liniment out there.

There is nothing objectionable about this when you put it in your mouth: not too hot, not too tannic, not too spicy, not too bland. An instant later, your entire palate is submerged in a rich blend of taste and fragrance sensations, which has always drawn me to Cabernets. I once went into a wine bar, and asked the bartender for a Cyrano. He shook his head and told me he didn’t know that label. I said, “It isn’t a label. I want a wine with the biggest nose you’ve got. You know — a Cyrano de Bergerac.” He scowled and chuckled at the same time, and served me something with a big nose indeed, and it was wonderful — but this was many years ago, before I started trying to remember labels. I could not tell you what it was.

This isn’t a Cyrano, but it’s dangerously good. I just read on Facebook — which means this must be true, right? — that one glass of red wine is worth an hour of exercise. This wine is a good candidate for my New Year’s Resolution of getting eight hours of exercise a day.