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June tends to be a busy month of festivities, doesn’t it? I’m sure many of you are filling your calendars with recitals, graduations, and celebrations of the big impending holiday of Father’s Day.

This month, in the season of dads and grads, I’ll be looking at a couple distinct wines that fit these two special occasions.

Have any of you seen the Amazon docuseries, Shiny Happy People? I just finished watching all four episodes last week, and while it was stomach-turning and heart-wrenching, I had to laugh at a preposterous single male character who had the balls to tell wives and moms how they should act. Because, OBVIOUSLY he is an expert. 😉

Now, I am not a dad, so I cannot speak from first-hand experience about what wine-drinking dads like to get for Father’s Day, but you can trust that my wine recommendation is solid, and I will not presume to tell you how to be a dad.

Anyway, enough with the whack-jobs and back to contemplating dear ol’ dad, and what to treat him to on his special day….

I am blessed with both a wonderful dad and dad-in-law. Both love great wine, but of course they each enjoy certain kinds of beer and various spirits.

The cellarmaster at Cooper & Thief believes one should not have to choose between wine and spirits, and so cleverly combines the two in a bourbon barrel-aged red blend. Very wise. Very savvy.

If your dad enjoys bourbon or port, here is a red wine with those same qualities that makes an unusual and utterly delicious gift. Cooper & Thief Bourbon Barrel Aged Red is a red wine blend from California (who knows how to party) that takes a nice extended vacation for three whole months in bourbon whiskey barrels (yes, former homes of bourbon). Don’t you think your dad would like to lounge for three months in a bourbon barrel? Sounds kind of great, actually.

Anyway, what this does to the wine is it infuses the wine with warmth, smoothness, and complexity as it ages and develops into its fine self (do not tell your dad he’s aging like a fine wine, just don’t!). You taste the character of the bourbon barrel treatment in the wine, and it makes it really stand out. At 16% ABV, the alcohol level is encroaching on port territory. It’s got full fruit but still enough other structural traits (tannin and acid) to keep it from being a flabby, over ripe blackberry (you’ve tasted those in the summer, right?).

According to the winemaker’s notes, “Cooper & Thief Bourbon barrel-aged Red Blend offers a swirl of warm toasty vanilla notes, with dark fruit and a gentle hint of classic bourbon spice. Blackberry and jammy dark currants lead to a rich finish, with the elegance of a fine sipping bourbon.”

You sold yet? 🙂

Grab a bottle or two of this classy wine for your dad. He’ll appreciate you taking to heart his lessons on killing two birds with one stone, right? 😉

Happy Father’s Day, dads! Cheers to you and how you lead and love us well.