Tag Archives: cheap wine

Wine of the week: La Vieille Ferme Rose 2022

La Vieille Ferme Rose bottle
La Vieille Ferme Rose 2022/$7-$12

Once again, my mom’s rooster wine reminds us that great wine doesn’t require lots of money

Do a quick Google search, and there are lots of nasty things that show up about the La Vieille Ferme rose, including a demeaning score or two on Cellar Tracker, the blog’s unofficial wine inventory app.

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

When wine drinkers, wine critics, and wine geeks can’t see the value – let alone the joy – in a terrific $8 French rose, then we’ve lost one of the things that makes wine so much fun.

So nuts to them, and let the WC recount why this vintage of the La Vieille Ferme Rose ($8, purchased, 13%) is once again one of the great cheap bottles on the market today. The wine, a blend of cinsault, grenache, and syrah, is a touch fruitier this year (red berries) than last year, but there is also an almost orangish citrus note and even some garrigue (the French term for an herbal character some roses pick up). And I love this bit from the producer’s tasting notes: “Well balanced by a slight bitterness on the finish. …” Now that’s $8 winemaking.

Highly recommended, as always, as well as my mom’s favorite wine; it’s sure to take its place in the Hall of Fame next year. My only regret? That the no one in Dallas sells this in the 3-liter box, which would allow me to save even more money – as well as to sip and smile and feel just a little sorry for everyone who thinks the wine isn’t worth drinking.

Imported by Vineyard Brands

Fourth of July wine 2023

super hero miniatures
Yes, using this picture again — how could I not, what with superheroes battling premiumization?

Fourth of July wine 2023: Four bottles offering value and quality for Independence Day

It will be a hot Fourth o July in Dallas this year, and not just because of the holiday. We’re in one of our 100 degree stretches as I write this. So enjoy these selections, as well as the blog’s summer and porch wine guidelines in mind since it’s so hot.

These four wines will get you started:

• Castello di Gabbiano Chianti 2020 ($8, purchased, 13%): Old-fashioned Italian red —  both in style and price — that is heavy in the mouth with sour cherry fruit and dry tannins? What more does one need for smoking pork? (And a tip o’ the WC’s fedora to Frankie Celenza, who reminded me about this wine. Imported by TWE Imports

• Henri Bourgeois Petit Bourgeois Sauvignon Blanc 2021 ($13, purchased, 13%): if you can find this French sauvignon blanc for $10 or $12, buy a case. It’s a classic everyday wine — crisp, fresh, and stony. Highly recommended. Imported by Virtuoso Selections

• Cote Mas Aurore Rose 2021 ($9/1-liter, purchased, 12.5%): This French pink is past inconsistent; some vintages taste like bad red wine, and some are as terrific as this one. Provencal in style, so barely ripe berries, stony, and crisp. Highly recommended. Imported by Taub Family Selections

• Charles de Fère Cuvée Jean Louise NV ($9, purchased, 11%): Simple, enjoyable French charmat bubbly that offers tremendous value. Given the silly prices for even the most ordinary sparkling wine, this is a tremendous value. Decent bubbles, some stone fruit and lemon. Imported by Boisset America

Photo: TFNY18_074c” by BAS Photog is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0.

More Fourth of July wine:
• Fourth of July wine 2022
• Fourth of July wine 2021
• Fourth of July wine 2020
• Wine of the week: Bieler Père et Fils Rose 2022

Can a wine glut boost the wine business?

People tasting wine
“$10? Really? That’s damn fine wine.”

Of course – if the wine business wants to turn out quality $10 wine

Dear Wine Business:

Once again, the Wine Curmudgeon takes keyboard in hand to offer some help in your current crisis. Which, if possible, just got worse. Turrentine Brokerage, one of the most respected companies in all of wine, reports that bulk wine levels – dare I say? — are past a crisis (complete with fancy colored charts):

“Total California statewide gallons actively for sale are now up to 22.4 million. This volume of wine has only been available on the market four times before, and each time was after a record or near-record sized harvest. In contrast, the 2022 harvest was the lightest in a decade. The elevated volume of bulk wine actively for sale shows the concern of wineries over slowing consumer sales.”

In other words, wineries are making less wine because they finally figured out consumers are buying less wine. That means the wine they don’t use goes to the bulk market, where it waits for someone else to buy it – and waits and waits and waits. Because “current inventory can feel more like a liability than an asset, so don’t get left behind because you are hoping for a higher price.”

Since there won’t be one.

Fortunately, the WC has a solution to this problem: Cheap wine.

I can’t take credit for all of this. Much of it must go to the blog’s official European correspondent, who told me: “This should surely be a moment for someone to create a good value $10 brand.”

To which I said, “Eureka,” and wrote this post.

In fact, there is nothing unusual about this. “Wineries” make wine all the time without actually growing any grapes; instead, they buy grapes and wine on the bulk market, invent a name for the wine, bottle it, and sell it. These days, it’s mostly done with higher-priced wine because of premiumization, but I’ve been doing this long enough to remember terrific $10 brands like Line 39 and Yellow + Blue that did the same thing.

So why not do it again? The quality wine is available, and at more than fair prices, says Turrentine. Besides, what do you have to lose by trying? It’s not like the wine is going anywhere, and there’s more than an even chance that consumers might buy quality $10 wine. And then buy some more.

Or at least that’s what they tell me.

Your pal,
The Wine Curmudgeon

Wine of the week: Vinho verde 2023

women at table talking
“Do you think vinho verde would have paired better with this food?”

Vinho verde quality rebounded this year, but prices remain high

Vinho verde, the cheap Portuguese white wine (and sometimes rose) hasn’t been especially cheap the past couple of years. Which raises an intriguing question: What’s the point of a cheap wine that isn’t cheap anymore? If I can buy better quality wine for $15 (and I can), why would I spend $15 for vinho verde?

Having said that, most of the vinhos I tasted this year — save for long-time favorite Faisao — were of higher quality than last year. Sadly, the Faisao, both white and rose, were too soft, too sweet, almost flat, and huge disappointments.

What do you need to know about vinho (and the blog’s vinho verde primer is here)? The wines are usually non-vintage, with slightly sweet lemon-lime or apple fruit, a bit of fizz, and low alcohol — all of which makes it ideal for hot weather and summer food. Most of the cheapest wines, like Santola, Famega, Casal Garcia, and Gazela (and that often have a crab on the label), are made by the same couple of companies but sold under different names to different retailers.

The most dependable vinho verde is the Broadbent ($9, 9%), which was less soft and more interesting this year; Broadbent also makes a rose ($9, 10%) that is almost more rose-like than vinho.  Check out these other vinho verdes:

• Gazela Vinho Verde NV ($8, purchased, 9%): Stunning upgrade in quality from what used to be a very ordinary wine. It’s fresh, wonderfully fizzy, sweetish but not sweet, and has terrific lime fruit. Highly recommended. There’s also a rose that’s worth drinking, but not as well mdde. Imported by Evaton

• Aveleda Vinho Verde Fonte 2021 ($10, purchased, 9.5%): Quality vinho producer’s whose vintage product is usually worth paying for. This vintage has some lemon, isn’t too sweet, and the fizz is fizzy. Imported by Aveleda

• Casal Garcia Vinho Verde NV ($7, purchased, 9.5%): Don’t know what they did, but this year’s bottling is two or three steps up from the last time I tasted it. More structure, more integrated sweetness, better quality fizz and nice lemon-lime fruit. Highly recommended. Imported by Avelada

More about vinho verde:
• Vinho verde review 2022
• Vinho verde review 2021
• Vinho verde review 2020
• Wine of the week: Herdade do Esporão Vinho Monte Velho 2021?

Photo: “Women Grow Business Boot Camp #wgbiz #dcweek _-164” by ShashiBellamkonda is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Wine of the week: Marques de Caceres Rosado 2021

Marques de Caceres Rosado 2021
Marques de Caceres Rosado 2021/$8-$14

Yes, it’s a a past vintage, but quality doesn’t always depend on that sort of thing anymore

The Wine Curmudgeon has a couple of bottles of this wine sitting in the wine closet as I write this. Yes, it’s a past vintage – or what should be a past vintage in more normal times – but one of the many benefits of the last decade’s rose boom is that many past vintages are worth drinking.

And the Marques de Caceres Rosado 2021 ($10, purchased, 13.5%) is just one of those sorts of wines.

Frankly, I was surprised that it has held up so well. For one thing, it’s a supermarket brand, and since it doesn’t cost as much as the $20 roses we’re supposed to drink, it can’t possibly be worth drinking. But the producer knows a thing or two about making quality supermarket wines, and I’ve always respected the importer. The other bonus? Lots of availability.

So what to know about this Spanish pink from the Rioja region? First, it’s made with tempranillo, so the fruit flavors are darker – more cranberry and black raspberry than strawberry. But it’s still clean and crisp and refreshing, despite the vintage. And no, it’s not sweet.

In other words, don’t be worried about serving this for Mom over the weekend, whether for brunch or an afternoon barbecue. And, with a little luck, we can keep drinking this vintage until the 2022 shows up.

Imported by Vineyard Brands

Wine of the week: Mont Gravet Cotes de Gascogne 2021

Mont Gravet Gascon white bottle
Mont Gravet Cotes de Gascogne 2021/$10-$12

The perfect choice for these troubled wine times – a Gascon white

Wine world got you down? Tired of paying $18 for chardonnay that tastes like a Reese’s Cup? Worn out from seeing row after row of smoooth red blends on retailer shelves that all taste alike?

Have no fear. The new vintage of the Mont Gravet Cotes de Gassogne is here.

Regular readers know that white from France’s Gascony remains some of the best values in the world. And the Gravet ($12, purchased, 11%) is annually one of the best Gascon whites on the market.

This vintage is a 50-50 blend of colombard and sauvignon blanc, and it’s a step up – more Gascon in character, so not so much a sauvignon blanc knockoff as a tart, almost white grape juicey wine, and with just a smidge of alcohol. Plus, it’s fresher and almost stony this time around.

And who knew the WC was ahead of the times when he was recommending 10 to 11 percent alcohol Gascon wines all those years ago.

Highly recommended, and a good chance for the Hall of Fame in 2024 as well as making the Turner sward shortlist. Chill this and drink it on its own, and with almost any food you can think of. I’m not sure it’s prime rib, but I wouldn’t rule out meat loaf.

Imported by Winesellers Ltd.

Wine of the week: Marques de Caceres Verdejo 2021

Marqués de Cáceres Verdejo bottle
Marques de Caceres Verdejo 2021/$8-$12

Spanish white demonstrates one more time that scores are useless

The Wine Curmudgeon has no idea why the Marques de Caceres Verdejo, one of the world’s great cheap white wines, scores so poorly on CellarTracker, the blog’s unofficial wine inventory app.

Oh, that’s right. I do know. Scores are useless.

And also know that the Marques de Caceres Verdejo 2021 ($10, purchased, 13%), which always offers value and quality, does even more this vintage. It’s almost nuanced and subtle, an amazing accomplishment for a $10 wine and even more amazing given that so many producers no longer care about that, opting for smoooth.

The Caceres, which comes from the Rueda region, is made with the verdejo grape, which gets about as much respect as most grapes used to make cheap wine (and which no doubt accounts for the poor scores — ITS NOT CHARDONNAY). Nevertheless, the 2021 is more round and full, and it’s much less tart and much less of a one-note wine. There’s an almost tropical middle to go with verdejo’s typical lemon fruit and lingering freshness.

Drink this on its own, or with grilled or roasted chicken, as well as something as different as braised chickpeas with lemons and herbs. Highly recommended, and does all that a $10 wine should do – and much, much more. Sure to be on the shortlist for the 2024 Turner award.

Imported by Vineyard Brands