Tannin my hide -- the Marquis Philips 2005

I'm Professor Harold Hill and I suggest you step on down to get your tannins, right there, folks.

Ladies and gentlemen, if you've even been wondering what's ailing you, what's getting you down, what's keeping you down, I suggest you know -- but you won't tell yourself.

It's the old tannins.

That's right, folks. Tannin's start with T and that rhymes with P and that stands for profit.

That, I believe, is what is happening here with this Australian blend: the idea that a good wine is all about tannins. Add tannins and you have yourself a wine. Even if you don't have a wine, just give me a dollop of tannins and send me on my way.

Tannins are a natural product of the winemaking process that can help control balance and structure. Winemakers can adjust the tannin level through finely honed techniques, but the more I taste reds, the more I see the use of it into exuberance.

When I opened this bottle, the waft of wine itself told me this burst with tannin. That would be fine had it been balanced with fruit and mineral flavors. I could detect some pepper and herbaceousness, but that likely came largely from them damn tannins (the title of my next stage musical).

I'll try the wine again because I suspect a lack of letting the bottle breath could alter some of those overwhelming tastes.

But in this instance, it was all too much (tannin) with too little (other stuff).

Pay attention in the next couple of days for my first video, wherein I interview a wine expert about the daunting task of finding a great French wine at a reasonable price.

Can you say ish?

Oak Leaf Cabernet

Oak Leaf Chardonnay

As a common man, a regular guy, a mensch even, the last thing I want to be is a snob. I might like drinking wine, but I might drink it while eating a frozen pizza (cooked of course) while watching "Tommy Boy" -- for the sixth time.

Take that into consideration when I say Oak Leaf wine, available exclusively at Wal-Mart, is not good. If it were good, like "Tommy Boy," I would say so.

I bought some because I used to get Two Buck Chuck, which is to say wines by Charles Wilson and not some dude, and I thought Oak Leaf might offer the same promise for $3 a bottle.

It does not.

The cab starts with a strong vinegar taste that stays throughout. You can detect some fruit, maybe a mineral -- particularly if poured over real rocks -- but it's not a good wine. I wouldn't even use it for cooking because that strong vinegar taste would be compounded in cooking.

The chardonnay isn't as bad but it also has a vinegar taste that cannot overcome any fruit flavors that might be there.

I've found some $6 bottles, which I will recommend later, that are worth the extra three bucks. If you're like me, I can get four glasses from a bottle. In this case, the few extra quarters per bottle are worth it.