Carignane is an odd little red grape. It’s used mostly for blending — in California to produce jug and inexpensive red blends, and in the Rhone region of France, where it’s the poor cousin of syrah, grenache and mouvedre.

This single-varietal carignane, from Dallas’ Time Ten Cellars ($15), shows the grape off to nice advantage. It has a funky, Rhone-like aroma (wine types call it bacon fat), but plenty of New World style fruitiness, including a big dose of cranberry (something to keep in mind come Thanksgiving). It’s not especially tannic, and the alcohol is a well-done 13.8 percent. This makes it an ideal red wine for hot summer days and good barbecue, be it pork or smoked chicken.

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And don’t be confused about the grape’s spelling. It’s carignan in France and carignane in the U.S.

Some food and wine notes:

• The monthly master wine dinners at Pappas Bros. Steakhouse, put together by esteemed sommelier Barbara Werley, are highly recommended. Werley matches a variety of interesting and not always common wines, spirits and beers with five courses. I did it a couple of weeks ago, and Werley found a Spanish white I had never heard of, a vintage Hugel riesling from Alsace, and a couple of French reds that were as surprising as they were excellent. The dinners aren’t cheap (count on about $100 a person), but if you’re looking for something fun and different -– say as a gift for the wine drinker in your life — they’re worth the money. Call the restaurant for information, schedules and reservations.

• The closing of Lakewood’s Kitchen 1924, plus Tucker near downtown, takes away two of Dallas’ best reasonably-priced wine restaurants. Kitchen 1924 always had some terrifically priced white Burgundy, while Tucker offered wines that didn’t show up on many restaurant wine lists.