Ilustration by Andrew Saeger, tHE ARTdept.Hey fellow lushes! Are you sick of Snowpocolypse yet? I’ve been holed up for days and I cannot help myself from gorging on the incessant TV coverage of Snowmaggedeon. Make it stop!!That’s why The Wino’s flying south — in an armchair travel kind of way: Queuing up a viewing of Invictus (don’t you just love Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela?) and twisting the top off one of the most easy drinking reds I’ve tasted in a long time.Herding Cats is from South Africa, a gorgeous wine region that produces the European varietals we’re used to seeing in the U.S., as well as a grape that’s unique to that area. Pinotage is a cross between Pinot noir and Cinsault grapes and it’s just a lot of fun to say: Pea-know-tage. The last bit rhymes with stage, if you said it all posh. Like Sir Elton John would.Herding Cats has a blend of Pinotage and Merlot that’s as soft and friendly as a fluffy kitten. Without the pesky claws.Maybe I appreciated this pleasantly fruity red because it perked up the meal I had to throw together using the dwindling supplies in my pantry. After a couple of glasses, I had rechristened my boring bean soup “ribollita” by adding croutons and shaving Parm on top. By the third glass, this meal tasted like a four-star restaurant.Now, I broke my rule by cracking open this particular twist-top. I don’t usually drink wine with cutesy names or silly labels. In fact, I have done extensive guzzling, I mean research, to come up with this conclusion: The cutesier the label, the worse the hangover. But Herding Cats is going to get a pass, mostly because that label features a leopard print instead of a clowder of adorable kitties.A bottle of Herding Cats Pinotage/Merlot is about $10. It also comes in a party box size, but unfortunately, it’s not available in the Seattle area. Now, if you’ll please excuse me, I have to get back to 24/7 Storm Coverage.Follow Voracious on Twitter and Facebook.