Halloween is just around the corner and if you’re like us, you’re buying candy {and booze} for yourself and not so much for the trick-or-treaters. We maybe get one or two trick-or-treaters each year, so it’s only worth it to buy what we like.

Vinepair (my new favorite wine blog) sent out their wine-booze-beer pairing guide earlier this week and it was so good that I had to share it with you:

We opted for the 2012 Vampire Merlot for Friday’s festivities — watching Grimm on the couch, dressed as a blogger and a PhD student (so creative, I know!) — so I’ll also need to stock up on KitKats (the orange ones!!!), as dictated by the above chart.

I bought this wine for two reasons: 1) It had a very cool, fitting name for Halloween drinking, and 2) It was on sale at QFC. Sometimes that’s all it takes. Upon further investigation, I’m totally stoked about drinking this wine!

Here’s what I found out:

Much mystery surrounds the Vampire line of wines.

As an example, the identities of the winemakers engaged for the project remain a well-guarded secret. That’s because they’re employed by other wineries, and it’s important that the brands they represent be protected in the marketplace. We can tell you that one of the vintners has garnered an almost unheard-of score of 96 for one of his bottlings from Wine Spectator.

What is not a mystery is why Vampire wines are so good. It’s a combination of professional winemakers having access to exceptional winegrapes and knowing exactly what to do with them. Several of California’s top growing areas contributed grapes for the 2012 Vampire Merlot.

The finished product is a medium-bodied, smooth wine that shows off the fruit flavors of the grapes, herbal notes from the terroir, and spice, vanilla and toast impressions from oak barrel aging. Why this wine is so sublime is no mystery at all.

Happy Halloween and CHEERS!

(We made some really fun Halloween cocktails last year! Read all about them here!)