Tag Archives: $10 wine

The Wine Curmudgeon’s Guide to Cheap Wine

Kickstarter video wine curmudgeonThe Wine Curmudgeon has vowed, more than once, to never write another book. Let it be said that the horror stories you hear about publishers are true and leave it at that. And agents aren ?t much better ? see Raymond Chandler ?s essay, ?Ten Percent of Your Life. ?

However, in today ?s publishing world, you don ?t need a publisher or an agent, so I don ?t have any excuses. Hence the forthcoming publication of ?The Wine Curmudgeon ?s Guide to Cheap Wine, ? which should be available in time for Mother ?s and Father ?s Day.

Look for the ebook at $9.95 and the paperback at $14.95. It will be for sale on the blog, as well as the usual Internet and digital retailers.

More, after the jump, including the video I made to promote the book on Kickstarter:

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Wine of the week: Alaya 2009

imageThere ?s a certain style of Spanish wine that is decidedly un-Spanish but has become a particular favorite of the Winestream media. These wines are red, often made with garnacha, and are fruitier and higher in alcohol than most Spanish wines.

Having said that, some of them are actually worth drinking. We ?ve covered Evodia on the blog (and I ?ll be reviewing the new vintage later this year), and the Laya ($9, purchased, 14.5% alcohol) fits into that category as well.

It ?s not quite a $10 Hall of Fame wine ? the oak that ?s there gives it an almost Adams Extract vanilla flavor. But everything else is present for great cheap wine, including lots and lots of black fruit that is neither sweet nor extracted ? just intense. Yes, the alcohol is high, but the wine handles it well and you won ?t flinch when you taste it.

It ?s probably a bit much to drink on its own, but it would pair with most winter dinners, including beef stew and maybe even macaroni and cheese.

The original $10 Hall of Fame

Original $10 Hall of FameThe PDF at this link is a story called “Uncork It” that I wrote for the Southwest Spirit inflight magazine in 1999. It was the first appearance of what, today, is the $10 Hall of Fame.

How long ago was that? Randall Grahm still owned Big House wines; I used the word checkbook, because we wrote checks in the 20th century; and I quoted Peter Granoff of a company called Virtual Vineyard, a predecessor to Wine.com that disappeared when the tech bubble burst.

No surprise to see Bogle on the list, of course, though I haven’t seen the McGuigan in a store in years, and the Belvedere no longer exists. And how far ahead of my time was I with a regional wine and moscato?

As for the the Hogue fume and Jaja red blend: “Let us not burden our remembrances with a heaviness that’s gone but distant memories,” wrote Shakespeare, because those were two of the finest cheap wines ever. Versions are still around, but they’re made by different companies and bear little resemblance to what they were. In fact, they gave me the idea for this story because I got tired of hearing people tell me you couldn’t buy great wine for $10 when you could buy Hogue and Jaja.

The advice? As current as ever, and it’s nice to be able to give credit to the people who first told me those things. And my editors at the time, Tracy Staton and Lori Stacy, deserve several waves o’ the Curmudgeon’s fedora. If they hadn’t bought this story, who knows what I’d be doing now?

And is anyone surprised to see I was cranky about scores even then?

Wine of the week: Domaine de Pouy 2011

original-2811-1--domaine-de-pouy-ugni-blanc-franceThis Gascon white wine set me up for a 2013 Curmudgie. I saw it in the store, and immediately doubted whether it would be any good, and for no reason other than I was being stupid.

A guy I know at the store talked me into buying it, and the first thing I did the next time I saw him was to apologize for being so cranky. What ?s the most important rule in tasting wine? Drink it before you judge it.

The de Pouy ($10, purchased, 10.5% alcohol) is another amazingly fresh, almost grapey wine from Gascony, made with grapes used almost nowhere else in the world. It ?s one of many Gascon wines I ?ve praised over the past several years, many of which are in the 2013 $10 Hall of Fame.

What sets the de Pouy apart is a green apple sort of citrus note that balances everything and takes the wine where most $10 wines don ?t go. Yes, it ?s a simple wine, but the best simple wines, like this one, aren ?t overdone or insulting. That ?s what makes them interesting.

Highly recommended; chill it and drink on its own, or with almost any kind of food that isn ?t red meat, a cream sauce, or spaghetti. It should stay in the Hall as long as it costs $10 — and as long as I don ?t judge it before I drink it.

The 2013 $10 Hall of Fame

10hallThis was a record-setting year for the $10 Hall of Fame, with 12 wines making the cut. In some two decades of drinking cheap wine, I've never tasted so many that were so good. I came across at least one wine every week that was made me go, "Does this belong in the Hall?" That has never happened before.

Click here for the entire list, or the $10 link on the upper left of this page.

There were lots of surprises — the Mandolin syrah from California, a French picpoul from Font-Mars (picpoul is notoriously inconsistent), and even the Rene Barbier Mediterranean Red, which took $5 wine to a place I never thought it could go. The Hall's selection process and eligibility rules are here.

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.

2013 $10 Hall of Fame coming on Monday

The 2013 $10 Hall of Fame will post on Monday — perhaps the most impressive group of cheap wine I've honored in the decade I've been doing this. There's more Gascon wine, a French picpoul that is stunning, some of the best Australian wine I've had in years, and even $10 California wine — plus a mystery wine that surprised even me.

Want a sneak preview? I'll be on Olivia Wilder's Internet rado program at 8 p.m. CST on Sunday to talk about the new Hall, answer questions, and dispense cheap wine advice.

Wine of the week: Falesco Vitiano Rosso 2009

Falesco_vitiano_rossoConsider these quotes from the Wine Curmudgeon ?s previous reviews of the various Vitiano wines:

? "I sound like a gushing school girl. ? ?

? ?Riccardo Cotarella is a genius. ?

? ?How does Ricccardo Cotarella produce a wine of this quality, ship it to the U.S., overcome the high euro, and sell it for about $10? ?

Needless to say, I like the wines.

The 2009 Rosso ($10, purchased) is yet another triumph ? a red blend of sangiovese, cabernet sauvignon, and merlot that is not too fruity, not too alcoholic, not too tannic, and not too acidic. In other words, balanced, as all great wine should be, whether costing $10 or $100.

The 2009 is more rustic than previous vintages, with some heft and a leathery feel, but this variation is one of its charms. Most cheap wine is made to taste the same from year to year, but Cotarella ?s wines are better than that.

Drink this with any red sauce or any combination of beef or chicken with red sauce. It will be back in the $10 Hall of Fame when it appears next week, a testament to the concept that cheap wine does not have to taste cheap.