The only highlight of a singularly bad, and not inexpensive, dinner at the recently opened III Forks steakhouse in Houston was the wine. (Well, the room is pretty…) I’m not exaggerating when I say that the lobster bisque was the worst, pasty, floury, goop in the history of lobster bisques, all starters and sides were cold and/or blah, and each and every steak was incorrectly cooked — all either damn near raw or well done. (Amazingly, even when they tried to correct the steaks, brought out new ones, they were also wrong.)

But the wine list… I suspect it’s a work in progress and that when they figure out what they’ve got, some of the pricing will change. But for now, it’s ripe for cherry picking — there are some excellent wines sprinkled in there  at good prices. (If you’re an Italian wine lover, be sure to check those options!)

We landed on the Kamen 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma Valley. It retails for around $75, and I believe it was on the restaurant wine list at something like $110. And it was gorgeous. Almost (almost) made up for the meal. Deep and concentrated, with black fruit — blackberry, currant, plum — laced with aromatic pipe tobacco and exotic spices, and supported with underlying tannic grip. The complex finish lingers generously. Delicious now, but should age beautifully — drink now and over the next 5-10 years. Locate this wine online or in your area.

I hear that III Forks is really good in Austin and Dallas, so here’s hoping they figure things out in Houston. In a city full of much better steakhouses, they’re going to have to!