Buy this book. "A Toast to Bargain Wines" may not be everything you need to know about cheap wine, but it's close enough. George Taber, the author of several acclaimed wine books, including the legendary "Judgment of Paris," has nailed cheap wine in a way few others have — or have cared to.
More, after the jump:
The recession continues to provide us with terrific wine values, of which the Pillar Box White is the lastest example. The wine is made by Australia's Henry's Drive, best known for its Pillar Box red blend and various shirazes favored by the Wine Magazines. Henry's Drive, before the Australian wine glut, was quirky enough to appeal to people like me but not so quirky as to alienate the establishment. And if the wines were a couple of bucks too expensive, no one seemed to care.
The list price for the Pillar Box white (purchased) is $14, which means it should show up at varous retailers in the U.S. for $12 or so. In which case it would be a fair value, if not a great one. So how much did I pay for it? Eight bucks. Not bad, huh? Someone, apparently, had a lot of wine to move.
And I got a lot for my $8. The white is a blend of chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, and a Portuguese grape called verdelho, which the Aussies have had some success with. It needs food, since it's more than a little puckery from the sauvignon blanc. Still, having said that, the grapefruit wasn't unpleasant, and there was even a little oiliness, which helped balance the acid. Chill the Pillar Box and grill some shrimp or chicken breasts marinated in garlic and olive oil to go with it, and you should be more than happy.
The Wente family has been a mainstay of California winemaking for four generations; patriarch C.H. Wente learned the business from Charles Krug, one of the industry's pioneers, in the late 19th century. There is even a specific kind of chardonnay grape, the Wente clone, named for the family, developed about a century ago.
So why don't you hear more about Wente wines? For one thing, their winery is in Livermore, hardly as sexy as Napa or Sonoma. For another, their wines can be very traditional in style, which doesn't appeal to the mass of critics who follow California wine and think old fashioned is a cocktail. But the Wente wines are always well made and always offer value, particularly at the Wine Curmudgeon's price point.
The Louis Mel ($10, purchased) is an excellent example of that quality and value. This is a pleasant midweek wine that worked wonderfully with oven fried chicken and would go well with any grilled chicken or white fish. It's not overly complex — just some citrus and pear — but that's not a problem. It's actually nice to taste a sauvignon blanc that is more restrained than the grapefuit puckerers so often found at this price, even from California. All in all, a more than solid wine for the price.
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:
? Los Vascos Chardonnay 2010 ($10, purchased): Not what it once was, and can’t be the same wine that several readers suggested I try. Some green apple, but heavy and oily — not good characteristics in a $10 chardonnay.
? Bertrand Picpoul-de-Pinet 2010 ($10, purchased): Extremely disappointing picpoul, more like a white Bordeaux. Mostly citrus fruit without picpoul’s mineral character.
? Sledgehammer Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 ($15, sample): Big, fruity, unsubtle and straightforward. This is a simple wine that delivers chocolate cherries and caramel for those who like that sort of thing.
? Cantina di Soave Re Midas 2010 ($10, sample): Not much there, even for $10. Almost heavy, with little of Soave’s crispness or minerality. Made in more of a New World, chardonnay style.
The Wine Curmudgeon tries to practice what he preaches. I needed a couple of bottles of wine for dinner, but didn't want to make a special trip to a wine store. So I looked for wine at the grocery store, using my advice about buying wine for dinner.
The result was the Dry Creek ($10, purchased), which comes from a standout California producer whose dry chenin blanc has long been one of my favorites. I wanted sauvignon blanc for dinner (oven fried chicken), saw this on the shelf, knew that I liked the chenin, and so bought it.
The fume, which is sauvignon blanc under another name, is made in the classic California sauvignon blanc style, with grassy aromas and front, and a tropical middle. Don't expect any big, New Zealand-style grapefruit; the wine has some citrus, but is more restrained than its Kiwi cousins. The finish is a little disjointed, as if it doesn't know how to end; all in all, though, it's a heck of a bargain for $10.
Serve this with most white meat dishes, as well as salads. It would also, as befits any sauvignon blanc, pair with shrimp and other boiled seafood.
This wine has been taunting the Wine Curmudgeon for months, daring me to try it. And I would walk past it, ignoring it, refusing to be tempted by what I thought was a previous vintage from an ordinary part of France made by just another producer with a label that seemed to be trying too hard.
So what happened when I finally succumbed, and bought the wine (mostly out of necessity, since finding red wine to review is so much more difficult than finding white wine)? It was a nifty little bottle, proving once again that one should taste the wine before one judging it.
The Caprice ($9, purchased) is a previous vintage, and the current vintage costs more in France than I paid for this in Dallas. But that doesn't mean it's not a quality $10 wine, offering more value than expected. It's a blend of grenache, syrah and merlot that is a little fruiter (red raspberry?) than many similar Rhone-style wines, but it's not New World fruit by any stretch. The Caprice has easy tannins, and a dark, earthy middle. Even more impressive: Since it is a previous vintage that it has held up so well. This is fall wine, as the weather gets cooler, to enjoy with soups and braised beef and chicken.
One of the perks of being the Wine Curmudgeon are trade tastings, where producers and importers offer samples of their various wines. At a recent Dallas trade tasting, two of my favorite Gascon wines were in attendance — Domaine Duffour and Domaine du Tariquet.
Getting to taste them reminded me how much I appreciate Gascon wine, which is cheap, made with odd grapes, and just the thing to keep in the refrigerator for wine emergencies. So I did a quick round of the stores to find some more, and came up with the Artigaux ($10, purchased).
It's made with the Gascon grapes, ugni blanc and colombard, and it's not quite the wine that the Duffour or the Tariquet are. The Artiguaux is more simple, with a touch too much white grapey-ness. But that's not necessarily a bad thing, since the wine is fresh with low alcohol (11 1/2 percent) and almost enough acid to balance the fruit.
This is wine for the end of summer, and wouldn't be bad at any other time — such as the refrigerator emergency wine, when you need a glass after work or something to drink with Chinese takeout.
