Tag Archives: cheap wine

Wine of the week: Falesco Est! Est! Est!!! 2009

The Wine Curmudgeon does not approve of exclamation marks. If Hemingway didn’t need them, no one else does either. Which should give everyone an idea about the quality of this wine, since it has five exclamation points in its name.

The Est ($9, purchased) is a white blend of trebbiano, malvasia and roscetto (yet another obscure Italian grape, something that it seems all interesting Italian wines must have). In less capable hands, that grape combination can produce a wine that is all sweet and fruity. But Falesco, the producer behind Est, is one of the most capable hands in the world, and the Est lives up to Falesco’s long-standing tradition of cheap and well-made wine.

Look for a lemon/lime zest sort of flavor, more structure than a $9 wine should have, and some spice on the finish. Drink this chilled on its own, or with anything resembling fish. This wine would make even tuna casserole, made with cream of mushroom soup, taste better. And look for this in the 2012 $10 Hall of Fame, with Falesco’s Vitiano wines.

Wine of the week: Coteaux d’Ancenis La Clotiere 2009

Here is why the Wine Curmudgeon loves wine. I was cutting through the wine department at my local Whole Foods, on my way to somewhere else, when I saw the La Clotiere on display. The label was unimpressive, it was stacked with a bunch of other $10 wines, and there was absolutely no reason to stop and look at it.

So of course I did, and the result was a Wine of the Week and an almost certain new member of the $10 Hall of Fame. Highly recommended, though availability may be a problem if there are no Whole Foods in your area.

This is cheap wine as it should be — professionally made, balanced, and with low alcohol. It comes from the Loire region of France and is made with gamay, which is not as odd as it sounds (though we don't see many of those wines in this country). But it has very little to do with $10 gamay from Beaujolais, where the wines are often very fruity, don't have much in the way of tannins, and are much simpler than this.

The La Clotiere ($9, purchased) is a surprisingly un-simple wine. There is red fruit in the front, a bit of a middle, and a mineral-like finish common to red wines from the Loire. I chilled it, because that's what I do with $10 Beaujolais, but that made the wine worse. Serve this at room temperature with any simple, middle-of-the-week dinner, and it would also be perfect for French Bistro night (steak frites, anyone?)

Wine of the week: Douro Altano 2008

The first time I tasted this wine, a Portuguese red blend, it was from the 2003 vintage and it was an outstanding $7 wine — almost $10 Hall of Fame worthy. The next vintage, the 2005, was less than impressive, overripe and flabby. The 2006 was better than the 2005, but not as good as the 2003.

This inconsistency has driven the Wine Curmudgeon crazy, since I really want to like the wine. As noted, there just aren’t that many nifty $10 reds out there these says. So when the 2008 was up to the 2003’s standards, I was ecstatic. This version of the Altano ($10, sample) manages to combine an Old World sturdiness with bright, dark fruit (prune-like, if that’s possible). It’s not especially tannic or acidic, but this doesn’t seem to be a problem. Pair it with any weeknight red wine dish, like meatloaf or stuffed bell peppers.

So why was this vintage so much better than the others? I checked with the producer’s Dallas representative, and he didn’t mince words. There were a variety of problems with the way the wine was made, like hiring port winemakers to make table wine. These problems, he says, have been fixed by the label’s new owners, and the ’08 was made by winemakers who specialize in table wine. Which is good news, and I’m looking forward to the next vintage.

Winebits 163: Organic wine, cheap wine, malbec

? New Zealand group sets organic target: Organic Winegrowers New Zealand wants 20 percent of the country's vineyards to be certified organic by 2020. The 140-member organic group signed a memorandum of understanding last year with New Zealand Wine Growers to work towards organic goals. The amount of vineyard land in New Zealand under organic certification has tripled in the past three years, and about 4.5 percent of vineyard land is certified organic. That compares to 5 percent in California, which is one of the New World leaders in organic wine. Note that the Kiwis want organic vineyards, which is different from organic wine according to U.S. law. No synthetic chemical fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides are permitted in organic vineyards.

? French wine values: My pal Dave McIntyre at the Washington Post says France, thanks to an exceptional 2009 vintage, will offer some exceptional "recession buster" wines in 2011. Dave especially likes the Gugial Cotes du Rhone blanc, about $13, and a white from Savoie, Domaine Eugene Carrel Jongieux, about $11. From California, he likes two reds — the 2007 Parducci petite sirah and Liberty School Cuvee, both about $12.

? Not all malbecs are alike: The Wine Curmudgeon is indifferent to much malbec, and Michael Apstein at Wine Review Online, discussing the various regions and styles of malbec that are available today, does a good job of explaining why: "Argentine Malbec satisfies the current thirst in the United States for big, ripe, fruity red wines to accompany the robust flavors found on the plates in fashionably boisterous restaurants. … Hence, there are plenty of Malbecs from Argentina that disappoint with their simplicity and monotonic profile of dark black fruit." But, he says, there are plety of interesting malbecs, from Argentina and elsewhere.

Wine of the week: Volteo Viura + Viogner + Sauvignon Blanc 2008

This wine should really be called Volteo Blanco, since it's a Spanish white wine blend. I'm assuming that the three grapes used to make it are in the name because most Europeans think that Americans only buy wine that has the varietals in the name. That most of us have no idea what viura or viogner are probably never occurred to the folks behind Volteo ($10, purchased).

Having said that, it's quite well made and (with its tempranillo cousin) was in consideration for the 2011 $10 Hall of Fame. That it didn't get in speaks more to its newness; this is one of the first vintages, and I'd like to see what happens next before I elevate it to the Hall.

Viura is a traditional Spanish grape used to make just this kind of wine. Look for a crisp, fresh, clean effort with a bit of lemon fruit and Spanish minerality and acid. Don't expect a New World citrusy wine — the Volteo is much more balanced. Serve this with salads, almost any kind of grilled fish, and even boiled shrimp. And, like the tempranillo, it has the "Smart Label:" A blue frame appears around the label illustration when the wine is at the correct serving temperature. Which actually did work.

The 2011 $10 Wine Hall of Fame

$10halloffame Six wines in, four out, and an analysis of what happened with cheap wine in 2010. That's the result of the 2011 $10 Wine Hall of Fame. For all of the great wine I found last year — from Sicily, from Oregon, and even from France — this year's Hall was a bit of a disappointment. Click the previous link  to see which wines made it, or go to the upper left hand corner of the page.

No new California wines made the Hall. For the most part, the California wines I tasted (save for the old dependables like Bogle and Toad Hollow) were boring and unimpressive. California can make much better cheap wine (and it has), and I hope 2011 will show a return to form.

The ground rules for this, the fifth annual, Hall of Fame: The wines have to cost $10 or less (Dallas prices, though I will make an exception if prices seem to be higher here) and be generally available. That means no wines like Trader Joe's Two Buck Chuck, which are only sold at one retailer. The final decisions are my own, and take into account what I think wine should be: varietally correct, balanced, and interesting enough to buy again.

I do take suggestions and input from dozens of people — blog visitors and wine drinkers, people I know in the wine business, and other wine writers. Thank you for your help.

Finally, two wines that almost made it:

? Barefoot merlot. I spent a lot of time on this one, and was encouraged by several people to add it, but finally decided not to. The Barefoot wines are professionally made, but I don't think they're as interesting as the wines I selected.

? Rene Barbier Mediterranean White: I love this wine, which is simple and pleasant and almost relaxing. But as much as I like it, it is, like the Barefoot, too simple. There's not just enough going on.

Coming Monday: The 2011 $10 Wine Hall of Fame

Seven wines in, four out, and an analysis of what happened with cheap wine in 2010 — that’s the 2011 $10 Wine Hall of Fame, which will post on the blog on Monday. Want to get a sneak peak? Browse to Olivia Wilder’s Art of Living Internet radio program at 8 o’clock central tonight, when Olivia and I will talk about the wines, take questions from listeners, and field queries from the show’s chat room.