My chat with Lynn Krielow at iWineRadio has posted, and it covers the gamut — lots of cheap wine talk, how I pick the $10 Hall of Fame, and why some of the wines made it this year. You can listen here. It’s about nine minutes long.
Tag Archives: $10 wine
Wine of the week: Georges Vigouroux Pigmentum Rose 2012
What better way to start the new year and the release of the 2014 $10 Hall of Fame than with a cheap and delicious rose? And from southwestern France, too, home of so much great $10 wine.
The Pigmentum ($10, purchased, 13%) is made with malbec, which gives it a style somewhere between a fruity, strawberry-ish New World rose and and the more traditional and tart French style. But it’s still balanced and food friendly, and well worth drinking again. In fact, in most years, it would have made the hall of fame. This year, though, given all the tremendous candidates, it had to wait. This, apparently, is not an uncommon problem with halls of fame.
The Pigmentum is made by a French wine company, Atrium Vigouroux, which specializes in cheap wine. The rose is for sale in Europe through their site (ah, the joys of unrestricted direct shipping) for ?5 a bottle, and the company’s white blend (which I also like) is only
?4.90. Both work out to less than $8 a bottle. Is it any wonder that those of us who pay attention to these things still see the French wine model as worthy of admiration?
Winebits 315: Cheap wine edition
? More influential than ever: That would be those of us who write about cheap wine, according to a study last month. The Vine Pair Wine Web Power Index ranked 33 wine-related websites, and two of them dealt mostly with cheap wine. The Wine Curmudgeon was one of them, of course, but even more highly ranked was Jon Thorsen’s Reverse Wine Snob, who has been fighting the good fight for some three years (though Jon includes wine that costs as much $20). Interestingly, The Reverse Wine Snob was judged more influential than many of the usual Winestream Media sites and blogs that are usually mentioned as the most important places on the Internet.
? Bring on the dollar store wine: Dollar stores, including Dollar General and 99 Only, see a future in wine, reports Time magazine. “Adding beer and wine to our stores allows us to offer our customers a place where they can truly shop us first for everything, ? said a 99 Only spokesman. Wine pricing starts at $2.99 a bottle, which puts the retailers in competition with Walmart and Aldi, the discount grocer, as well as Trader Joe’s and its Two-buck Chuck. That dollar stores, whose primary demographic is more rural and less affluent than the typical wine drinker, see wine as important speaks to how wine has changed in the U.S. over the past decade or so. And which may help explain how Thorsen and I ended up on an influential wine Internet list.
? Not so great cheap wine tips: From Consumer Reports, no less, whose dedication to value wine has been noted here before. The catch, though, is that most of the suggestions aren’t of much use. Yes, Costco has quality cheap wine, but telling people to buy wine at Costco doesn’t do anything for those of use who don’t have a Costco nearby. Also, one of the suggestions depends on scores, which seems to be at odds with the methodology used in the blog post linked to in the first sentence. Finally, the magazine suggests buying wine on-line, which doesn’t take into account shipping costs and state shipping restrictions.
The 2014 $10 Hall of Fame
If you thought last year’s effort was impressive, with 12 wines making the cut, wait until you see the 2014 $10 Hall of Fame — 16 wines entering the Hall, and only two dropping out. Click here for the entire list, or the $10 Hall of Fame link at the top of the page. The Hall’s selection process and eligibility rules are here.
Not all was wonderful — the Cusumano Nevo d’Avola didn’t make it, which was a damned shame considering it had been one of my favorite cheap reds. I don’t have much hope for the other Cusumano wines for next year, either.
But that was about the only disappointment, given how much great cheap wine I tasted in 2013. Some 100 wines were considered, easily the most ever, and those that made it into the Hall included the $5 Spanish Vina Decana, which I have bought shamelessly since tasting it in October; more Gascon, cava, Sicilian, and rose, perhaps the best values in the world; and four California wines — believe it or not.
I wrote this last year, and it’s even more true in 2014: “We’re living in the Golden Age of cheap wine, and I hope everyone who reads this understands how lucky we are to be here. It’s as if Aretha Franklin, Bruce Springsteen, the Ramones, and the Beatles were all on the same bill, all in their prime, tickets were free, and we never had to go home.”
2014 $10 Hall of Fame coming Monday
The 2014 $10 Hall of Fame will post on Monday, with several major surprises — including a $5 wine and a longtime favorite that dropped out because, sadly, it wasn’t very good.
Nevertheless, this looks to the strongest group of cheap wine ever, even more impressive than last year, which was perhaps the best Hall class in history. The Golden Age of cheap wine, where we’re drinking not only better made wine, but there are more wines of higher quality than ever before, continues with no end in sight.
This is amazing for at least two reasons: First, because the wine business is becoming increasingly desperate to raise prices, but cab;t because consumers aren’t willing to pay more (and more on that later this month). Second, because consolidation seems to dumb down wine quality, and consolidation — more bigger companies owning more brands — continues to increase.
Wine of the week: Ch teau du C dre Cedrus Le Blanc 2012
What’s left to say about Gascon white wine blends that hasn’t been said since the first ones appeared in the 2008 $10 Hall of Fame? The same things I’ve been writing all along — cheap, well-made, food-friendly, and tasty. Can’t get too much of a $10 good thing, can we?
The Cedrus ($10, purchased, 11.5%) is more Gascon cheap white wine excellence, colombard and ugni blanc blended together to make a crisp, citrusy wine with the region’s trademark white grapiness and that is clean and delicious. And all for the same price as one of those incredibly dull, all too fruity grocery store red wines that California insists that we drink.
One of these days, I’ll do a Gascon tasteoff, and see which one is the best of the best. Until then, enjoy this abondance — and think about keeping a bottle or two around for the holidays. It’s a terrific wine if anyone stops by, if all you want is something to drink with Chinese takeout, or just feel like a glass after work.
Mini-reviews 54: Beaujolais Nouveau, Cousino-Macul, McManis, 14 Hands
Reviews of wines that don ?t need their own post, but are worth noting for one reason or another. Look for it on the final Friday of each month.
? Georges Dub uf Beaujolais Nouveau 2013 ($8, purchased, 12%): Much better this vintage — less banana and more oomph, including acidity that hasn’t been there for several years. It’s still not as grapey as it should be, but decent enough cheap wine. Good to see that this annual tradition is worth buying again.
? Cousi o-Macul Cabernet Sauvignon Antiguas Reservas 2010 ($17, sample, 14%). Chilean red has more in common with California Central Coast style, meaning lots of juicy black fruit and a little herbal aroma, than it does with many Chilean wines.
? McManis Viognier 2012 ($12, purchased, 13.5%): Oily, very fruity (peaches?), and a little bitter on the back — decent enough, but not near the quality of the rest of McManis’ wines. California and viognier continue to be a difficult combination.
? 14 Hands Hot to Trot White 2010 ($10, purchased, 13%): Nowhere near the quality of the 14 Hands red blend, this Washington state effort has an unpleasant finish and is uneven and disjointed, with an odd fruitiness. Very disappointing.