The pricier 2007 Boarding Pass First Class Shiraz was aged for 18 months in French and American oak. It exhibits a glass-coating opaque purple color, an expressive nose of smoke, lavender, bacon, and licorice leading to a structured, slightly lean Shiraz that should evolve for 2-3 years and will hopefully fill out its frame. R Wines is the label created by Dan Philips for wines sold predominantly but not exclusively for under $20 a bottle produced in-house under the direction of Chris Ringland. The wines are discussed in the order in which they were presented. The last four wines are made from the grapes grown in the Shiraz vineyard of Adrian Hoffman in the Ebenezer district of Barossa Valley. Hoffman was responsible for all the harvesting decisions, and the wines were made by Chris Ringland. They are all still in barrel but will ultimately receive 36-40 months in new French oak.Importer: Dan Philips, The Grateful Palate, Oxnard, CA; tel. (805) 278-9095

The deep crimson-colored 2006 First Class Shiraz contains a dollop of Viognier. It was barrel-fermented and aged in new and one year French and American oak for 18 months. It has an alluring bouquet of cedar, mineral, tobacco, smoked meat, and blueberry. This leads to a full-bodied Shiraz with enough structure to evolve for 2-3 years. It has excellent depth, savory black fruit flavors, plenty of spice, and a lengthy finish. It will offer prime drinking from 2011 to 2020. R Wines is the company founded by importer and bacon baron Dan Philips and the veteran vigneron Chris Ringland. It encompasses four familiar labels, Marquis Philips (designated MP in these listings), 3 Rings, Roogle, and Bitch, along with 13 others created especially for R Wines. As is usual for master marketer Philips, the packaging is amazingly creative but, more importantly, the wines consistently over-deliver from low end to high end. The conclusion of this report contains a list of Values $20 and Under. Twenty-four R Wines are noted, many of which offer exceptional bang-for-the buck. What follows are notes are for the R Wines over $20. The rest of the Shiraz were sourced from the highly regarded 60+-year-old Ebenezer vineyards of Adrian Hoffman who is a partner in the venture.Importer: Dan Philips, The Grateful Palate, Oxnard, CA; tel. (805) 278-9095

The 2005 Shiraz “First Class” was barrel-fermented and aged for 18 months in new and 1 year French and American oak. More complex aromatically, it has a lovely bouquet of toast, smoke, cedar, lavender, blueberry, and blackberry. Opulent, velvety, and seamless, it has great depth, spicy blue and black fruit flavors with hints of licorice and chocolate, and a very long finish. Drink it over the next 10 years. The Boarding Pass label is just that, a dead ringer for an airplane boarding pass. According to Dan Philips, it is like going on a trip to Australia without leaving home while the First Class is a luxury upgrade. Aside from the humor, these two wines have more in common with Fed-Ex, delivering the goods right on time. R Wines is a new company founded by importer and marketing genius, Dan Philips, along with co-owner, renowned winemaker, Chris Ringland. Winemakers for R Wines are Chris Ringland, Lisa Wetherell, Andrew Hercock, and John Hughes. It encompasses four familiar labels, Marquis Philips, 3 Rings, Roogle, and Bitch, along with 13 others created especially for R Wines. Needless to say, the packaging of these wines is amazingly creative but, more importantly, what is in the bottle consistently over-delivers from low-end to high-end.Importer: Dan Philips, The Grateful Palate, Oxnard, CA; (805) 278-9095