We have been true believers in our little household that everybody needs three wines on hand at all time–so we buy them by the case (or the half case at least).

#1 The house red–your everyday drinking red wine. It should work for both pizza and pasta and because it is Tuesday and tomorrow you still have to do that meeting with the awful client. It needs to be both reasonably tasty, easy to find and affordable.

Ditto for #2–your house white. That fish for dinner is much better with a crisp Sauvignon Blanc and warm nights require an easy drinking white.

#3 is your everyday sparkling wine. Ours is either a simple Cava or Prosecco. There is something delightful about bubbles on a mundane Monday or for the simple celebration of seeing friends after work for a quick drink.

To that list we have added one more house wine–the weekend red. For us this is the semi-serious-we’ve taken a bit of care with dinner-let’s drink something lovely tonight-wine. And we have found what is, for us, the perfect weekend red wine. It comes from a Washington State winery called Rotie Cellars. We first experienced it at a terrific Charlotte restaurant called The Fig Tree (which everyone should try when they are in the Queen City) and we then asked our friend Josh from our terrific local wine shop Assorted Table to find it by the case for us–which he promptly did and a new love affair was born . We buy the Northern Blend–95% Syrah, 5% Viognier–which is a wine made in the style of some of our favorite pricier, northern Rhone Valley wines. In their own words the Rotie cellars winemaker describes what they’re trying to do;

“Rotie Cellars was born out of a desire to pay homage to the wines of the Rhône Valley. From the deep and complex Syrah-Viognier blends of the Northern Rhone, to the sultry GSM’s of the South, the renowned region offers a wealth of inspiration.The whole point of Rotie Cellars is to make traditional Rhone Blends with Washington State fruit. So what do traditional Rhone blends mean to me? To start with, they mean lower alcohol, less ripe, less oak, balanced, finesse driven, mouth coating wines. “

We love it and think they have hit the nail on the head. While it is well reviewed–92 points from Parker’s Wine Advocate–we ordered our first case before reading a single review. We simply loved the rich mouthfeel, elegant structure and clean finish from the first bottle we had. These are wines made for food–and feel much less like new world fruit bombs than the elegant wines found in your neighborhood bistro in Paris. Which is, I think, exactly their goal. It isn’t cheap, but it isn’t completely ruinous either–particularly as a special occasion bottle–around $45-50. We use it as our dinner party wine and folks love it–it drinks like a wine twice the price in my opinion. Terrific with grilled meats and rich stews. Try it and let me know your thoughts.