What does the label remind you of? Ring of fire? Lunar eclipse? It does have a kind of Twilight movie poster feel. Photo by Brenna Arnesen.

Happy Holiday Season, readers! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and ate to your heart’s content with loved ones and enjoyed some scorching political/religious debates or pee-your-pants humor. The holidays are the best. I’ll do my best to provide you with a few worthwhile wines to try this season, hopefully a little more regularly than the last couple months.

Embarrassingly, I wrote this a while ago and am just now posting (slapping myself on both wrists, bad blogger!), so I will keep it in the tense at the time I wrote it:

I just got back from a ridiculously awesome three-day weekend in Walla Walla, Washington, one of the West Coast’s pulsing wine capitols (along with the other W’s: Woodinville, Wenatchee, and the Willamette Valley in Oregon). Me, my husband, and one of my best girl friends had a weekend filled with lovely, superb wines, tasty foods, and fall beauty coloring the quaint, historic downtown of Walla Walla and the immense surrounding countryside. We hit at least seven wineries (if I am counting correctly) so you can be sure I will blog about them later.

But in the mean time, it’s hard coming back to reality after an extended weekend. Back to a busy day of work, and then home to piles of laundry begging for attention and a fridge begging for groceries. I have a long week ahead of me, with a big event for work to prepare for and no end of things to do personally and around my house. Ah, real life. (Maybe someone could shave my legs for me while I blog?)

It’s nights like these where it’s best to take a deep breath, regroup, relax, and have a nice glass of wine to take the edge off of Monday, and to gently ease back into the routine. Things will get done when they get done, and you can only go as fast as you can, so why push yourself too much?

Sometimes all you want is a simple, uncomplicated, and good bottle of red to drink on its own.

Maybe you’re relatively new to wine? This one’s for you!

We opened up a bottle of Radius 2010 Washington State Merlot tonight. And, what do you know? It happens to be from Walla Walla! This wine is decidedly on the sweeter side; fruity, very light, smooth, and barely any noticeable acid or tannins to give it heft, so it’s a pleasant, easy-drinking wine.

I picked up this bottle for $10 or less at a local wine warehouse, Total Wine & More. It’s hard to go wrong with a wine like this, especially if you’re a newer wine drinker or are asked to bring a bottle of red to a party.

Here are the tasting notes: “Radius celebrates the wine making process which comes full circle every year from vine to bottle. This Merlot is grown in the famed wine country of Washington State with flavors and aromas of sweet cherries, plums and vanilla leading to a soft and silky finish. Enjoy with steak, meatloaf, grilled fish and cheddar cheese.”

So, when you begin to tire along the road of everyday life, or just need a little help easing back into it after a fabulous wine weekend (or what have you), Radius Merlot (check out their Cabernet Sauvignon, too!) comes full circle and is a sweet way to stay the course and go the distance.