Anyone who knows me knows I love gardening, everything from planting seeds to nurturing my green babies to their full potential, so it hurts when things don’t go as planned. Once while tending to my vegetables, I found white flies harassing my peppers. One by one, each plant wilted away and died from the unforgiving flies. I tried organic sprays, toxic sprays, everything in the book to get rid of them. The one unconventional, and most amusing, method was enlisting lady bugs to do the dirty work. That’s right, lady bugs eat white flies and similar havoc-wreaking critters.

It didn’t totally work, but I had a newfound respect for these savage killing machines. So when I saw this 2014 Predator Cabernet Sauvignon, with its lady bug label, I just had to get it in remembrance of my fearless friends.

It’s from California and is named predator after the ladybugs who eat the aphids and mites from the vines (like my friends). Using this method allows the vineyard to be sustainable, eliminating the need for pesticide.

It has a dark fruit aroma with a similar taste. It’s smoky and has some spice, and has a decent amount of tannins. It’s a great full-bodied wine with an inexpensive price tag (about $15). 3/5. I paired it with sausages and grilled zucchini.