Olé.

One word: Olé.  I have to admit, 90% of the times that I have enjoyed drinking a Herrera wine it has been at a party; a blessing of the winery, Cinco de Mayo celebrations, release parties, a child's christening.  Just name a special occasion and I have been there enjoying wine.
In the same manner as hearing Greek music transports me back to the idyllic island of Ithaki, or the aroma of French roast coffee firmly plonks me down amid the boulevards of Paris, drinking this particular wine has me conjuring up some convivial, festive event in my head.  Herrera is a second label from winemaker Rolando Herrera, co-founder of Mi Sueño Winery.  Each small production wine in the Herrera portfolio is named for Rolando's wife and their six children.  Meet Lorena, the matriarch.
The 2017 Herrera Selección Lorena, Red Wine is not a shy wine: it is bold and spirited like its namesake.  On the nose, hot sagey-undergrowth (a descriptor I never could have understood back in England), black cherry, plum, vanilla and cedar abound.  On the palate, perfect acid, candied raspberry, berry compote, vanilla (could be a mixed berry pie, but it isn't) and smooth, lush tannins.  This wine is a wine-blanket for ones senses, nothing is left out, everything is covered, more than delivers on the quaffability-quotient.  Party in a bottle.
Herrera embodies olé.

Wine games.

With a particular bottle of wine in mind, I headed into Vinoland's wine cellar for a look-see.  Yikes!  I didn't realise that there is so much crappy, old wine in there.  There's a lot of good stuff, but there is a fair percentage of wine that needs to disappear - down the toilet if necessary.  Then, I had a thought.  I should select a bottle a week, taste the wine and post about it even if the wine is awful and undrinkable.
I remembered that I like doing series/themes of posts.  Amongst some in the past, there have been; Winery Christmas Lights (WCL), Napa Valley's American Viticultural Area Signs (AVA Sign), Wines of the World (WOTW) and, Thud's personal favourite, Week of Weeds (WOW).  Titter, Titter.  (To see all posts related to these series, click on respective labels below.)
As my search continued, dodging cobwebs (some with spiders in them), stubbing my toes on cases and almost triggering a small avalance of teetering bottles, I had fun trying to recall the provenance of individual bottles I espied.  Where did I buy this bottle?  Was it a gift?  Have I been to this winery?  Memories, mental images and single words popped into my head like a game of word association.  Or rather, in this instance, wine word association (WWA).  A ha!  A new idea for yet another (short) series formed in my mind.  One wine, one word.  I grabbed five random (local) wines with which to start.
Never did find the original bottle of wine that I was looking for.
Stay tuned.

Selección Victoria.

In 2009, according to the Napa County Ag Commissioner, there were only 302 producing acres of Malbec growing in the entire county.  Malbec, more famous nowadays for it's success in Argentina, is not a widely produced single varietal wine in Napa, although there are a few notable producers, including Antinori and St. Supéry.  This particular Malbec, the Herrera, 2009 Selección Victoria, is perhaps the best of any domestic Malbec I have tasted.  I don't know where these grapes were sourced, I just wish more had been sourced  as only 65 cases of this deliciousness were produced.
Made by winemaker Rolando Herrera, and named after one of his daughters, this Malbec was full bodied with the deepest purple hue, nicely balanced acidity, bold, but silky tannins and a persistent, moreish finish.  A purple-plummy-raspberryness was followed by the suggestion of blackberries - the floral-perfumey character one gets when one passes by a bramble patch loaded with overly ripe berries - then there was the velvety vanilla vibe that just didn't let go of my taste buds.  Yum! 
Unfortunately, the bottle was only a 375 ml and it disappeared quickly, but not to worry it was sufficient.  And the wine paired well with my Jack-o-Lantern shaped pepperoni pizza (a tradition in these parts).  I'm all about high-end food and wine pairings me.  Double yum!