I had a nice merlot by Rex Goliath Wines, which is named after a 47-pound rooster..
Until you get to the very big, very old names, wineries really aren't very stodgy at all.
Oh yeah, I think I've had some Rex Goliath as well.
I'm very peculiar about wines. They're a bit like fine art, in my case -- I have an intellectual grasp on the broad-brush basics (expressionism, modernism, romanticism; styles of grape, regions, harvest times, etc.) but when it comes to the actual finished product it's purely just "I like this" or "I don't like this". I can't give you highbrow, critical reasons why. Plus, I tend to go for wines and art that are rather bold and offbeat. I like Dali and Escher, I like Egri Bikaver and Chianti.
Whereas beer and movies, I can be much more snobbish. I've had a lot more experience with both, and can appreciate the finer nuances of both. And in both cases, I don't like watered-down, easy to swallow versions. As I used to say, "I like a beer I can chew on for a while." Particularly Imperial Russian Stouts. Gods...a good IRS is like drinking a Black Forest Cake.
I used to be a conossieur of single-malt scotch and bourbon, but I just can't hang like that anymore. Still enjoy the occasional nip, but I drank my liver into oblivion in my early 20's.
Try mixing milk in with that combination.
I probably wouldn't do that with cinnamon-flavored whiskey, but I will say that milk and dark rum make an excellent combination. I made up a drink in college that used 3 parts milk, 2 parts Irish cream, and 1 part Bermuda black rum. The milk deadened the burn on the front-end, so it tasted a bit like a chai latte or some kind of flavored milk. And you could drink several before you suddenly realized you were wobbling and slurring.