Aleksander seems to play nice with two red grape varieties, Baco Noir and Cabernet Franc, and they sell them for outrageously low prices. This wine spent only 8 months in Slovenian and American oak (well, 60% of it did anyway) - the result is a big tobacco nose that seems to overwhelm everything else on the sniffer. The palate shows lots of fruit, including sweet raspberry, cherry jam and plum ... a juicy mid-palate leads to a peppered-plum finish. There's also a sour-sweet dichotomy that plays out on the linger where vanilla finally shows up to the party. Price: $13.80 - Rating: ****+