Category:White wine

Wine of the week: Ken Forrester Chenin Blanc Petit 2019

by Wine Curmudgeon Posted On

Ken Forrester petit chenin blanc
Ken Forrester  Chenin Blanc Petit 2019/$9-$16

Nothing illustrates how screwed up availability is better than this South African white, one of the all-time great cheap wines

The Ken Forrester Chenin Blanc Petit is one of the world’s all-time great cheap wines – a white that’s consistent and varietally correct every vintage. Plus, it’s a long-time Wine Curmudgeon favorite, on a par with this wine and this one.

So why has it only been a wine of the week three times in 15 years?

Our old pal availability, of course.

I can only guess why this wine is so difficult to find; it’s chenin blanc, for one thing, and South African for another. Neither are the kind of wine stocked in the mega-stores that are coming to dominate wine retailing.

Which is a damned shame. The Forrester Petit Chenin Blanc ($12, purchased, 13%) is the quintessential everyday white wine – low in alcohol, fruity but not sweet, food friendly, and delicious. It’s the kind of wine, as I’ve noted on the blog before, that even people who don’t like wine should like. The 2019 is rich and full, with an almost chardonnay mouth feel. There is lemony chenin fruit, plus a bit of stoniness.

Highly recommended, and a candidate for the 2023 Hall of Fame.

One note: This is an older vintage, and there seems to be more of it available than the two more recent vintages. Because, of course, availability.

Imported by USA Wine Imports

Wine of the week: Marques de Caceres Verdejo 2020

by Wine Curmudgeon Posted On

Marqués de Cáceres Verdejo
Marques de Caceres Verdejo 2020/$7-$13

This Spanish white offers value and availability for just $8

In the WC’s eternal quest for widely available wines that don’t taste fakely sweet or designed to be focus-group “smoooth,” supermarket Spanish wines often turn up.

In this case, the Marques de Caceres Verdejo 2020 ($8, purchased, 13.5%).

The Caceres is made by a large Spanish producer that sells its wines in 120 countries, so it won’t be confused with a boutique producer. But this white, made with the verdejo grape (a long-time Wine Curmudgeon favorite), is remarkably consistent – something that multi-national producers should excel at but don’t always manage to do.

The 2019 vintage was exceptional, and if the 2020 isn’t quite as amazing, it’s still a fine wine – and especially for $8. This is not a delicate wine, full of finesse; instead, look for fresh, tart lemon fruit, a touch of softness in the middle to balance the lemon, and a not quite stony finish.

In other words, the kind of wine to buy – a couple of bottles, perhaps – the next time you’re at the supermarket to keep on hand when you feel like a glass of white wine.

Imported by Vineyard Brands

Inflation? What inflation? 10 bottles of wine for $114

by Wine Curmudgeon Posted On

wine dinner
“I think the WC is right. I haven’t noticed wine prices going up that much.”

Inflation, shortages, and supply chain woes may be showing up in the rest of the economy, but they don’t seem to have hurt cheap wine yet

Gas prices may be close to $4 a gallon in parts of the country, and the cyber-ether is full of hand-wringing about the U.S. economy and the ravages of inflation, the supply chain kerfuffle, socio-political unrest, and all of the the rest of the specters haunting our post-(hopefully) pandemic world.

But wine prices going up? So far, I haven’t seen it.

Yes, there are still shortages and empty shelves. My local Aldi has moved on from the cheap imported wine that made me a regular customer, and is instead stocking not so cheap (and very ordinary) California wine. Which, no doubt, is because of all those supply chain problems. And it’s still difficult finding certain wines, be they Italian and Spanish reds or the $10 roses I drink year round. My kingdom for a Zestos rose!

But there is still plenty of value. The wine business, for whatever reason (and no, I have no idea what they may be) is holding the line on prices. During a recent shopping expedition, I bought 10 bottles for $114, or about what I usually pay. The wines included:

• South Africa’s Ken Forrester petit chenin blanc, one of my all-time favorite wines and difficult to find even in the pre-pandemic world.

• A couple of Spanish viuras including the 1-liter Spanish Azul y Garanza. The Azul, which is always a value, has been in short supply for the past 18 months.

• An $11 cremant from the Loire, a sparkling wine from Cote Mas. The Mas wines can be uneven, but this was a steal (and more on it later).

• A $15 Australian riesling, the Pewsey Vale. Aussie riesling is another great value around $15, and again has been difficult to find in Dallas for years.

• A $10 red Bordeaux, the Chateau La Freynelle. The white has always been fine $10 wine; have not seen the red for a very long time, as well.

Photo: cottonbro from Pexels

More about buying cheap wine:
• Suck on this, premiumization: 14 bottles of wine for $148
• Premiumization be damned: $139.36 for 14 ½ bottles of cheap wine
• Panic wine buying

Mini-reviews 154: Funckenhausen, aligote, white pinot noir, Domaine Laroque

by Wine Curmudgeon Posted On

holiday giftsReviews of wines that don’t need their own post, but are worth noting for one reason or another. This month, more cleaning out the wine closet.

• Funckenhausen Cabernet Sauvignon 2018 ($15/1-liter, sample, 13.9%): Another in a series of 1-liter wines from this Argentine producer that mostly offer fine value but can be difficult to find. Because, of course, the wine business. A little brambly, soft, and fruity, but not flabby. Imported by Global Vineyard Importers

• Roux Père & Fils Bourgogne-Aligoté 2020 ($18, purchased, 12.5%): Simple French white that is Macon-like, though aligote is a different grape than chardonnay. That means fresh, some citrus, and some minerality — and should cost $12. Imported by Monsieur Touton Selections

• Aniello Blanco de Pinot Noir 2021 ($17, sample, 13%): White pinot noir from Argentina, since white pinot noir is a very wine geeky things these says. Somehow, though, it has tannins — despite being made without the skins (that lend tannins) to make it white.  Imported by Global Vineyard Importers

• Domaine Laroque Cabernet Franc 2019 ($14, purchased, 13%): I expected this French red to be more stony and edgy (for lack of a better term). Instead, it was soft, with almost violet fruit (again, for lack of a better term).

Wine of the week: Mont Gravet Cotes de Gascogne 2020

by Wine Curmudgeon Posted On

Mont Gravet Gascogne
Mont Gravet Cotes de Gascogne 2020/$8-$13

Is it from Gascony? Is it cheap? Then of course it’s worth drinking

One of the blog’s regular readers teased me recently about my affection for Gascon white wines, and he was exactly correct – I do write about them a lot.

And why not? Gascon whites – sometimes blends, sometimes not – remain one of the wine world’s great values. They’re simple but not stupid, offer clean fruit flavors, and are low in alcohol (hint, hint, to all the young people out there).

In other words, just the thing for a weeknight dinner.

Case in point is the Mont Gravet Cotes de Gascogne 2020 ($8, purchased, 11.5%). It’s not a blend, like Domaine Tariquet, but a varietal – all colombard. As such, it’s a little more tart than the Gascon blends, and the fruit is more citrusy. Call it not quite sauvignon blanc, but in no way with too much grapefruit.

The Mont Gravet is a long time-blog favorite, and this vintage is another in a long line of more than dependable Mont Gravet wines (white, red, and pink) put together by the Master and Sager families. Would that California knew how to duplicate this kind of quality at this price.

Imported by Winesellers Ltd.

Expensive wine 153: J. Moreau & Fils Chablis 2019

by Wine Curmudgeon Posted On

J. Moreau
J. Moreau & Fils Chalbis 2019/$20-$30

The J. Moreau Chablis is yet another example why scores do more harm than good

The Wine Curmudgeon tries desperately not to let his disgust with scores bubble up too often. But the wine business makes that almost impossible.

The most recent example is the J. Moreau & Fils Chablis 2019 ($25, purchased, 13%), a delightful chardonnay from the Chablis region in Burgundy in France. So what score did it get on CellarTracker, the blog’s unofficial wine inventory app?

An 88.

Sigh. Is it any wonder I worry about the future of the wine business?

That’s because 88 points is about what a $12 buttery supermarket chardonnay gets — the kind that’s designed by focus groups and made to ensure that the wine has all the subtlety of a hot buttered popcorn-flavored Pop Tart.

Is this the world’s most stunning Chablis? Nope, but it’s still a fine Chablis at a more than fair price (and especially given the cost of white Burgundy these days). It’s varietally correct, with lemony apple fruit, the minerality that all Chablis should have, and a pleasing roundness in the mouth that is not richness (or buttery popcorn).

So yes, I’d buy this again – just the thing for my traditional Saturday night roast chicken, green noodles, and green salad.

Imported by Boisset America

Wine of the week: The Seeker Sauvignon Blanc 2020

by Wine Curmudgeon Posted On

seeker sauvignon blanc
The Seeker Sauvignon Blanc 2020/$8-$15

This New Zealand sauvignon blanc offers quality you won’t find in its supermarket cousins

While we’re waiting for the New Zealand wine apocalypse to strike, the Wine Curmudgeon offers this: The Seeker Sauvignon Blanc 2020 ($12, purchased, 13%).

This white is part of a brand that features wines from around the world, and just not from one country or region. This is something that had been common before the recession, but has fallen out favor in the past decade. That means Seeker labels include riesling from Germany, rose from France, and so forth. The idea is that the producer can find wines that offer value, put its label on them, and offer something that others can’t – without being hamstrung by appellation.

Which works with the sauvignon blanc. This is a surprisingly nuanced New Zealand sauvignon blanc, and we know how difficult that is to find. In this case, that means not too much grapefruit, plus a pleasant bit of tropical in the middle, and the usual clean, crisp finish. Much, much better done than most Kiwi sauvignon blancs at this price.

Highly recommended, and just the white wine to keep around the house when the need for a quality, but inexpensive, white arises.

Imported by Kobrand