Nine wines entered the $10 Hall of Fame 2023, as quality cheap wine continued to hold out against the pandemic, consolidation, and premiumization
Three years of supply chain woes and all that meant for availability finally caught up with the Hall of Fame. The 2023 version welcomes nine wines, while only three dropped out — a surprisingly refreshing development. But I had to leave six more wines out of the hall because (and even though I bought all of them), they weren’t generally available.
Three wines dropped out. They included an Austrian gruner veltliner from Wachau Loess and a French blend, La Graviere Blanc, a one-time Turner cheap wine of the year. Both vanished from store shelves. Portugal’s Faisao rose vinho verde is also out; its quality was nowhere near what it had been.
In other words, the shipping shortage finally snafu-ed quality cheap wine. And, what’s worse, I’m afraid we may see that happen again next year despite the various improvements we’ve noted on the blog in the world’s supply chain. I guess a quality $12 rose isn’t as important as computer chips. And, sadly, rose was especially hard hit by availability. Six more roses I tasted were worthy of consideration, but most were sold in only a handful of stores.
Also depressing: For the second year in a row, I didn’t have many wines to choose from – maybe 18, down from a couple of dozen last year. Typically, I get three or four dozen in a good year. Still, there is plenty to celebrate in 2023 – and, for the second year in a row, more to celebrate than I thought there would be.
The Hall’s selection process and eligibility rules are here. I considered wines that cost as much as $13 or $14 to take into account price creep and regional pricing differences.
The new members of the $10 Hall of Fame 2023
• The Badenhorst Curator white blend from South Africa, one more in a long line of terrific cheap South African wines. From my notes: “White blend (mostly chenin and chardonnnay) that is both oily, fruity (stone fruit), and fresh. How do they do it?”
• The Chesnaie Muscadet from France. From my notes: “Why aren’t there more wines like this? I don’t even mind that it costs $8 in Europe. Fresh, crisp, minerality, and just enough pear fruit so that it tastes like there is some fruit in it.”
• France’s Reine Juliette Picpoul, a classic example of this white wine — so yes, lip-smacking.
• The Bernier chardonnay, which shows what the French can do with supermarket chardonnay — “round and full and with green apple and pear fruit.”
• California’s Rickshaw sauvignon blanc, a wine I really like and which I wish more California producers would draw inspiration from: “a stunning wine – both for quality and value.”
• The blog’s Turner Cheap Wine of the Year, California’s Matchbook cabernet sauvignon. This is one of the best California cabernets I’ve tasted in years, regardless of price.
• The Santa Julia Mountain Red, which is here even though i don’t like this style. But it’s not sweet-ish and soft, and taste slike a top-notuch Argentine red.
• The French Le Petit Gueissard rose: “How anyone can turn out a pink wine of this quality at this price, given all that is going on in the world, is mind boggling.”
• The Chilean Tres Palacios rose, made with cabernet franc and yet another example of how rose can be so many things and still cost just $10 or $12.
The Hall of Fame 2023 holdovers
• The Gascon Musketeers. These are white blends from southwestern France, led by Domaine Tariquet. In this, almost any $10 white Gascon blend is worth buying, and quality seems to have returned after several years of indifference.
• The 2021 Cheap Wine of the Year, the MAN chenin blanc.
• A Portuguese red and white from Herdade do Esporão Alandra, which offered evidence the Portuguese can make a huge contribution to cheap wine. The white is “crisp and spicy, with lots of pleasantly ripe stone fruit.”
• The Spanish Balnea verdejo: “An almost stunning wine. … somehow layered and almost nuanced – but costing nothing more than a bottle of very ordinary supermarket plonk.”
• The 1-liter Azul y Garanza tempranillo from Navarre in Spain and the the French Little James Basket Press white. Both are on Hall watch, though — prcies have gone up and availability has been short.
• The French Le Paradou viogner. This white shows viognier at its best — wonderfully fruity, but not sweet or stupid.
• The Mont Gravet carignan. This French red is one of my all-time favorite cheap wines, and even when it’s not in the Hall, it’s worth buying. The 2018 vintage is “everything a great $10 wine should be – professionally made, varietally correct, and interesting.”
• Banfi’s Centine red and white wines and its CollePino wines. The Centine red “tastes like sangiovese from the Tuscan region of Italy, and not a winemaking-driven product from a marketing company focus group trying to figure out how to make a sort of sweet and very smooth Italian wine.”
• The Monte Antico Toscana, an Italian red blend, combines value and quality in a way too many cheap wines don’t bother with any more. It tastes Italian, but it’s not old-fashioned or full of winemaking gimmicks.
• A vinho verde, the Aveleda Fonte, the first vinho to make the Hall. But why not? “Perhaps the best vinho verde I’ve ever tasted.”
• Tempranillo from Spain’s Rioja region remains a great value, despite the tariff. The LAN Crianza is one of the best of those values – earthy, peppery, and a hint of orange peel. Also, the El Coto Rioja crianza.
• The McManis California wines, all of which are worth drinking and some of which, like the merlot and viognier, are stunning.
• The Scaia glass closure white blend and rose, Italian wines that remind me of the greatness of $10 wine. The rose was named the blog’s 2022 Cheap Wine of the Year.
• Straccali Chianti, an Italian red that is so well-made that it “embarrasses all those $15 grocery store red Italians with their cute names and shiny labels.”
• Famillie Perrin Cotes du Rhone Villages, a French red blend with grenache, syrah, and mouvedre that just keeps getting better with age.
• The Lamura Sicilian wines, as well as the Feudo Zirtari and the Stemmari grillo. Each recalls a time when Sicily produced some of the world’s great cheap wine.
• Moulin de Gassac Guilhem, a French white made with odd grapes from a producer much better know for expensive wine. The rose is worthwhile, too.
• The La Fiera pinot grigio: “Quite possibly the perfect pinot grigio — a little lemon fruit and a restrained, quinine-like finish, three flavors, and not overdone in any way.” This is from importer Winesellers, Ltd., and most of their wines offer quality and value.
• The Spanish Ludovicus white and Zestos red, white, and rose, the Flaco tempranillo and the Gordo red blend, as well as the Cortijo rose, brought into the U.S. by Patrick Mata’s Ole & Obrigado. If you see Ole on a label, buy the wine.
• The Hall’s rose wing: The French La Vielle Ferme rose, one of the biggest surprises of my wine writing career, as well as the Bieler Sabine, the 2018 Cheap Wine of the Year; and the Charles & Charles from Washington state. Plus, Farnese, from Italy; the Provencal Pierre Rougon, complete with garrigue; the odd and intriguing Italian Li Veli, made with the negroamaro grape; the Spanish Riscal, the French Chateau Campuget; and the Italian Masciarelli, made with the montelpuciano grape.
• Assorted Spanish cavas, or sparkling wines (though they may cost as much as $15 in some parts of the country): Dibon, which Robert Parker liked as much as I did; Casteller, “tight bubbles and tart, sweet lemon fruit;” and Perelada, brut and rose, “impossibly well done for the price;” and the Naveran.
Previous $10 Wine Hall of Fames
• 2022
• 2021
• 2020
• 2019
• 2018
• 2017
• 2016
• 2015
• 2014
• 2013
• 2012
• 2011
• 2010
• 2009
• 2008
• 2007
• The original $10 Hall of Fame
Photo: “Cheap Wine” by Joe Shlabotnik is licensed under CC BY 2.0