Domaine le Sang des Cailloux Vacqueyras, Cuvée Floureto, 2004

I was excited about opening this bottle because I thought it was pretty. What can I say? I go for pretty.

Produced and bottled at the Domaine le Sang des Cailloux ("the blood of stones"), the Vacqueyras is 75 percent Grenache, 20 percent Syrah, five percent Mourvedre and Cinsault grapes aged in foudre, says Hudson Wine Merchants.

The color is a generous royal purple -- almost black -- and the nose is disarming, loaded with Mediterranean olive and pickled fruit, maybe plum, as well as black licorice (my least favourite jelly bean).

The 14 percent alcohol will go straight to your head without waiting for permission, so sip the wine slowly. I got more of that pickled fruit taste, but overall I found Vacqueyras regal and withholding. Its cards are kept close to the vest; if I'd known, I would have waited.

The keys on its bottle are quite apt.

We had the bottle with spiced pork, rosemary-seasoned rice and asparagus in olive oil and lemon powder. The variety of flavor complemented the olive aspect well, but I was feeling heady -- and a little cheated -- before I even finished my glass. Vacqueyras takes without giving back.