10/29/2026
🎃 Friday's tasting lineup showed up in costume:
**Villa Wolf** Gewürztraminer, Germany — the wolf
Ernst Loosen's Villa Wolf estate makes this one — Gewürztraminer in a lighter, fresher style than you'd expect. It's gently off-dry and intensely aromatic: lychee, fresh roses, and a little ginger spice, with juicy acidity keeping it bright rather than heavy. Wonderful with anything spicy!
**Kung Fu Girl** Riesling, Washington State — the martial artist
Charles Smith's Evergreen Vineyard Riesling — white peach, mandarin orange, and apricot over a firm core of crushed-stone minerality, finishing crisp and just barely off-dry. It's a repeat W**e Spectator Top 100 pick, and the name reportedly came to Smith over Chinese takeout while watching the Kill Bill duel. The w**ery's own pairing advice: spicy ramen or Sriracha pork tacos.
**The Velvet Devil** Merlot — the devil, obviously
Also Charles Smith — a Merlot built to live up to its name. Mostly Merlot with a splash of Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec, aged in French oak: black plum, blackberry, and cassis layered with cedar, to***co, and a little cocoa, all wrapped in a genuinely velvety texture with a smooth finish. Burger-and-steak w**e.
**Bogle Phantom** — the ghost
The big one. Bogle's family estate in the Sacramento Delta blends Petite Sirah and Zinfandel roughly half and half, then ages it over two years in American oak. Dark and full-bodied: blackberry and marionberry, baking spices, dark chocolate, and a kick of white pepper. It's named for the phantom figures said to drift through the morning vineyard mist — "bogle" is Scots Gaelic for a specter.
Four bottles, four costumes, all pouring at a discount this Friday at Roland Park W**es & Liquors.
We hope to see your costume too. 🍷👻
**eTasting