Where: Safeway, QFC, Thriftway, Metropolitan Market, Fred Meyer, Whole Foods 

Why: Winemaking is part science and part art. On the one hand, one needs to understand a wide variety of basic science variables and how they apply to wine (think titratable acidity). On the other, a vintner must put together a complicated jigsaw puzzle and come up with something that transcends all of the individual pieces. 

The latter is exactly what winemakers Ron Coleman and Danny Gordon have done on the 2013 Tamarack Cellars Firehouse Red Columbia Valley ($18). For the wine, they utilize 11 different varieties with cabernet sauvignon (25 percent), syrah (24 percent), and merlot (22 percent) making up the majority of the blend. One of the early releases from the warm 2013 vintage, it is plush in feel with sugary sweet aromas and flavors of blueberry, cocoa and herbs with an undeniable delicious factor. The wine is nothing short of a tribute to the art of blending.