This past weekend, a friend dropped in with an interesting bottle of wine she picked up while driving through the Niagara wine region (thanks, Genine). The 2006 Pipe Down is a blend of 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 45% Syrah, and 10% Petit Verdot, aged 16 months in French oak casks.

The Organized Crime Winery in Beamsville, Ontario, has such an interesting name, you must hear a little about its name and the origins thereof. It seems that in the early 1900s. there were two Mennonite congregations who fought over a rather liberal idea, to play music in the church. The liberal congregation acquired a small organ, an act that greatly irked the more conservative of these two congregations. The outrage was such that on night, the stricter, presumably more God-fearing group broke into the church belonging to those sinful, liberal-minded Mennonites, stole the organ, smashed it to bits, and threw the wreckage down an embankment into a stream below. Oh, the irony.

So, how was the wine? Pleasant. A little cherry and oakiness on the nose. It has a nice deep ruby colour, but it is nevertheless surprisingly light. That said, I would be more likely to recommend it with food than on its own though it is still a fairly nice drinking wine. Dry with a long finish. The cork has the words, "Thou Shalt Not Steal Music" written around its perimeter. You can visit the winery's Website by clicking here.