Tag Archives: inexpensive wine

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

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

Wine of the week: Castillo del Baron Yecla 2020

Castillo del Baron monastrell
Castillo del Barón Yecla 2020/$9-$12

Once again, this Spanish red shows how cheap wine should be done

The Castillo del Baron, from Spain’s Yecla region and made with the monastrell grape, has only been featured three times on the blog. But that has absolutely nothing to do with its quality; this is one of the world’s great cheap wines, and especially for those who prefer their red to have a little more oomph.

Rather, it has everything to do with – all together now – availability.

The current vintage is the 2020, and I have also reviewed the 2019 and the 2017. But the 2018 and the 2016 never made it to Dallas. Go figure.

Which is a shame, because, as I wrote in my notes for the 2020 ($10, purchased, 14.2%), “Another spot-on effort — a little more rustic, as it has been for the past couple of vintages, and a tad hot. But it’s balanced, almost earthy, and the cherry fruit shows just enough. All it needs is a little red meat or sausage for dinner drinking.”

And, frankly, given some of the plonk I’ve had to spit my way through recently (most recently, a $15 Oregon pinot noir that tasted like Welch’s that had gone off), I’ll take this wine every time.

Highly recommended, and – assuming it’s available, of course – a candidate for the 2024 Hall of Fame.

Imported by Europvin

Wine of the week: Broadbent Gruner Veltliner 2021

Broadbent Grüner Veltliner bottle
Broadbent Grüner Veltliner 2021/$11-$18

Once more, the WC finds a gruner that doesn’t make him crazy — which is why wine is so wonderful

Regular readers know that the Wine Curmudgeon has little use for gruner veltliner, a white Austrian grape that has been hip and with it for so long that its original proponents are probably long retired from the wine business.

So what has happened over the past couple of years? The WC has found three gruners worth buying and drinking. Which, if anyone who reads this needs reminding, is one of the wonderful things about wine.

The Broadbent Gruner Veltliner 2021 ($15/1-liter, sample, 12.5%) comes from one of my favorite “value” producers, the same people who bring us the vinho verde that I drink so much of. In this, it’s made along the same lines — varietally correct, not stupid, and a fine value.

Look for a lime and green apple fruit thing, plus some stone fruit if you taste it closely. I didn’t get the white pepper that the wine geeks say is there, but I don’t think the wine is lacking because of that. In the end, it’s dry, pleasantly balanced, and with a long and almost spritzy finish. Just the thing for spring — salads, the first barbecues, and all the rest.

Highly recommended — and, if I could get over my gruner prejudice, a candidate for the 2024 Hall of Fame.

Imported by Broadbent Selections