Masked Rider California Sagebrush 2009 Pinot Noir

Judy found this very delicious, satisfying wine in a remainders section of a store whose buyers’ taste is a lot like ours. She snagged a couple of bottles and we opened one right away. We loved it! So she raced back and bought . . . three cases!

It won’t last long in our house. It’s great with chicken prepared any way at all; with salmon; with pasta dishes with either tomato or cream sauce (or both); with pork; with . . . yeah.

I write this little note in spite of my assumption that you won’t be able to find it. I write in order to underscore a point I try to make with family and friends who (I think) often think we’re just cheap. (For them, I suggest you go to the little joke I found on the label, and just do the opposite of the advice I found there. Read on, former friends and family!)

The art on the front is colorful and appealing: a masked horseman twists in his stirrups, taking aim at some challenge his steed is streaking to carry him beyond.

On the back, with a bit of tongue in cheek prose, is a little tab saying “peel here.” When I did, the message on the back of the strip appeared: “Don’t squat on your spurs!”

Now that’s fun. I want you to know that not all wines with precious labels are just plonk. This one doesn’t rate a medal for exotic layering of sensations. It gets my vote as a good example of what wine writers try to do — alert folks to real, surprising values.

Bob Cramer, The Fearless Taster, www.fearlesstaster.com .