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