Last week we experimented with an incentive…order a certain dollar amount, and get a bonus bottle with your order. We started off with a bang (or maybe a shake) with some wines from Mollydooker. It was a great success — all the Gigglepot Cab is gone, though nobody really went for the sparkling Shiraz — so we’re going to make this a semi-regular thing. We’ve also decided to call this our “Bonus Bottle” program.

Here’s our offer for Bonus Bottle number two. We’re moving closer to home this week, with the 2005 Jack William “The King” Cabernet Sauvignon from the Alexander Valley. When we first carried this, it retailed for $37 a bottle and we felt it was a steal even then. We far prefer this wine to Silver Oak and Jordan, two Alexander Valley perennials that are more about hype and brand name than integrity of the juice.

A couple of weeks ago, we got the last cases available from our distributor and were able to lower the price to $27 as the vintage was being closed out. So the wine went from a great value to an even greater one. And you can make it an even better deal — in fact, a veritable steal.

Make a purchase of $85 or more, and use the code “king” during check-out to get a bonus bottle of this fantastic Cabernet with your order. In fact, the way our coupon codes work out, you’ll also be saving a penny off the total. Limited quantity of bonus bottles available. When the supply runs out, the code will stop working. So go get yourself some wine and a bonus bottle now!

Russ, the one and only Winehiker, is this month’s Wine Blogging Wednesday host. For the 50th edition, he asked that we talk about a wine we’d like to take with us to enjoy in nature, whether in the context of a picnic, hike or otherwise. Given that it’s October, we would have thought that we’d be leaning red by now. You know, like a meaty Cotes du Rhone or a Zin. However, fall weather seems to be staying away from Los Angeles, and our minds remain in summer mode.

First, we should mention that we’re more picnickers than hikers, so we’ve chosen a decidedly picnicky wine in the 2007 Elio Perrone Bigaro (about $18). This is an intriguing Moscato/Brachetto blend that we discovered recently at Osteria Mozza in LA. It’s a beautiful pale pink color, with a small degree of opacity. It’s chock full of Moscato apple and pear, and Brachetto strawberry — a veritable picnic in a bottle on its own — and has incredibly fine bubbles that create a lusciously smooth texture.

Chill this down and pair it with a couple of cheeses (a Parmesan-Reggiano and a mild creamy blue, perhaps), a good friend, and a chunk of sandy Beach (we’re thinking Malibu) and you have the makings of a great day.

Simon of Larchmont Wine & Spirits sends us his monthly dispatch. He didn’t send us the price, though, so we’ll have to get back to you on that one. We think that it’s probably in the $12 a bottle range, plus or minus a buck or two. Not widely available, so call Simon at (323) 856-8699 to pick up a bottle. In the meantime, Simon says:

OK so a Cotes-du-Rhone red may not be the most startling or original choice for our monthly promo, but this wine is one of an increasing number of lovely offerings from this area that will banish the memories of rather rough, peasanty stuff that carried the name in the past. Of course there is still a lot of filthy muck out there under the Slopes of the Rhone appellation, but we found this new-to-this-market example to be just what we look for in this category.

This is made from 80% Grenache and 20% Syrah by a small family-run winery that sources fruit from 80 year old vines just outside Gigondas in the southern Rhone valley.

Deep purple in color, the nose is forward and stuffed with red and dark berries, red plums, liquorice, smoke and soft spices. Full bodied and complex, the wine has plenty of stuffing on the palate, good length and ample ripe fruit.

As we ease into the fall, this can take care of any heatwave-induced barbeque fare. If we get a chilldown, warming comfort foods like cassoulet or a game stew will match just perfectly with a wine like this. –SC

I’m writing this from 30,000 feet! Much to my surprise, American Airlines is testing a new WiFi service that allows online access on flights between LA and New York. Whoopee! (And so much for a few hours off the grid.)

I wish I were drinking some wine right now so I could inaugurate a new Mile High Wine Blogging club, but I refuse to drink what’s offered in coach (and drinking wine on a plane at 10:30 AM holds little appeal). However, I will happily point you to a wine I tried a few days ago and enjoyed immensely.

Care of the Inertia Beverage Group Direct To Trade group, I was able to taste the 2006 Brooks Janus Pinot Noir, from the Willamette Valley of Oregon. What a lovely wine, with a good blend of red and black fruit, a hint of earth, and a nice, subtle acidity that will ensure this isn’t going to die any time soon. The bottle will run you $35 direct from the winery. d547 doesn’t carry it yet, so please go to Brooks and support buying direct from a winery we love.

So who else wants to blog the friendly skies?

We’re down to the last of our ‘06 Mollydookers, a few stray bottles of the Gigglepot Cab and the Goosebumps Sparkling Shiraz; in an effort to clear our shelves (and boost sales, let’s face it) we’vee decided to run a little promotion: orders of $100 or more will qualify for either a free bottle of either of these wines, your choice.

Only six available (4 Cab, 2 Shiraz). Just use coupon code “gigglepot” during checkout if you want the Cabernet, or “goosebumps” if you prefer the Sparkler. Both wines are valued at $50. Once we’ve run out of bottles, the codes will no longer work. Happy shopping!