Tag Archives: McManis

Wine of the week: McManis Petite Sirah 2020

McManis Petite Sirah bottle
McManis Petite Sirah 2020/$9-$15

Grab this $10 California red for holiday drinking and dining

The Wine Curmudgeon has long had a soft spot for petite sirah, a red grape that once did wonderful things in California and then faded into the distance, usually because it wasn’t cabernet sauvignon. These days, it’s mostly used as a blending grape, often for sweet red blends.

So when I find a $10 petite sirah from a top producer, I get that much less curmudgeonly. The McManis Petite Sirah 2020 ($10, purchased, 13.5%) is not just a great petite sirah, but a great cheap wine from perhaps the best producer of affordable wine in California.

This is another McManis wine that demonstrates that it’s still possible to make quality, cheap, and varietally correct wine in California. It’s oh so petite sirah — plummy and rich with sweet dark fruit, dark and interesting, but also fresh and vibrant. It’s not smooth or too heavy or sloppy at all, in the way some wines made with less popular grapes are made to convince us they taste like something else.

This is food wine for the holiday season and highly recommended – so much so, in fact, that it’s all but certain to make the shortlist for the 2023 Cheap Wine of the Year.

Thanksgiving wine 2022

turkey holding a wine glassFour Thanksgiving wine 2022 suggestions

How about another Shakespeare quote this year? Or, more exactly, not quite a Shakespeare quote? “Gnarly, dude.” Because, after the past couple of years, it’s time for a good laugh.

So enjoy the holiday, and especially these Thanksgiving wine 2022 suggestions. The blog’s guidelines for holiday wine buying are here.

• McManis Pinot Noir 2020 ($12, sample, 13,5%): Lots of nits to pick with this California red — too much oak, it doesn’t need all that vanilla, and the acidity seems a bit out of whack. Having said that that, this is about as close to legitimate pinot noir from California at this price as you’re going to find. It’s fruity (berries and cherry), but not overblown, and the tannins are soft. It is wine, and not smoooth.

• Anne Amie Pinot Gris 2021 ($20, purchased, 13.9%): Would that all wine at this price was this well made and this true to its variety and terroir. This Oregon white has lots of lime, but is also balanced — a bit of mineral and some zippy acidity. Highly recommended from one of the WC’s favorite producers.

• Veuve du Vernay Brut NV ($9, purchased, 11%): There are, apparently, warehouses and warehouses jammed with inexpensive French sparkling wine, made with methode Champenoise for $10 or so and that are well worth drinking. This is one of them, soft but more than just fizzy, with some lemon and apple fruit and a longish finish. Imported by Patriarche USA

• Les Maitres Vignerons de la Vidaubanaise Le Provencal Rose 2021 ($15, purchased, 13%): Well-made and spot on Provencal rose, so there is garrigue, barely ripe berry fruit, and oh so stony. If you can find it for $13, buy a couple of bottles. Imported by Michael Corso Selections

More about Thanksgiving wine:
• Thanksgiving wine 2021
• Thanksgiving wine 2020
• Thanksgiving wine 2019
• Wine of the week: Cantina Cellaro Luma 2019
• Wine review: Patricia Green Dollar Bills Only Pinot Noir 2020

Wine of the week: McManis Pinot Noir 2019

McMaanis pinot noir
McMaanis Pinot Noir 2019/$8-$15

Yes, there is inexpensive pinot noir that tastes like pinot noir

When I first starting writing about wine, I fell madly in love with pinot noir. It wasn’t as big or overwhelming as cabernet sauvignon or as fruity as merlot; it was restrained and interesting. And it didn’t cost a million dollars, either. Remember this wine?

So why, today, are there so few pinot noir reviews on the blog?

Because pinot noir and I broke up. I refuse to pay what have become ridiculous, car payment prices for a bottle, and I will not drink pinot noir that is pinot in name only. Which seems to be the case for too may of the wines that cost less than $50 a bottle.

So thank you, McManis, for your version of the wine ($12, purchased, 13.5%).

Frankly, it’s a stunning effort that comes about as close to tasting like classic pinot noir as pinot as this price can. That means just ripe berry fruit that’s not sweet, and it means it’s not over overdone with fake oak. Subtle, even. There’s even some savoriness and — how can this be for a Lodi wine? — earth. Highly recommended.

One caveat: The 2018 wasn’t nearly this well made – more in the style of “it says pinot on the label, but it’s mostly sweet fruit that doesn’t taste like pinot.” So, once again – and even for cheap wine – vintages can matter.

 

 

Wine of the week: McManis Cabernet Sauvignon 2019

McManis cabernet sauvignon
McManis Cabernet Sauvignon 2019/$-$12

Call it McManis month on the blog – and why not, given that this is a spectacular California red

Typically, I try to vary the wines of the week, alternating color, varietal, and producer so no one grape or winery gets more than its share of attention. But when I looked through my notes to plan this month’s wines of the week, I found I had overlooked several McManis labels. Which was a serious mistake, given the paucity of quality $10 wine these days – and especially from California.

So the McManis viognier showed up a couple of weeks ago, and today it’s the turn of the McManis Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 ($10, sample, 13.5%). This is cheap red wine in all its glory – a cabernet that tastes like California cabernet and that hasn’t been “smooothed,” tarted up, or reduced to something that people who drink Dr Pepper would want to drink, if they actually drank wine.

That means herbal, rich and full, with just the right amount of tannins, and with plenty of dark fruit. Maybe it’s black cherry – or even, perhaps, currants, one of the geekiest cabernet descriptors and usually reserved for a $35 wine. The McManis is not sweet, but the fruit is ripe and no one will ever confuse it with an earthy, elegant French red made with cabernet. But it’s not supposed to be confused with one, is it?

Highly recommended, and a candidate for the 2022 Cheap Wine of the Year, as well as to remain in the Hall of Fame. Bring on the burgers and grilled beef, sip a glass or two, and be glad that McManis believes in quality when so many others in California believe in focus groups.

Wine of the week: McManis Viognier 2018

McManis viognier
McManis viognier/$8-$12

This white shows that California producers who want to make great cheap wine can – and do

The Wine Curmudgeon has long been a fan of McManis’ $10 wines, which offer quality, varietal character, and tremendous value. In fact, the winery sometimes improves even on its own high standard – a bonus we don’t see much any more.

That’s the case for California’s McManis viognier 2018 ( $10, purchased, 13.5%). It’s a stunning white wine – my notes call it a “brilliant viognier that puts more expensive wines to shame.” In other words, all we can hope for from a $10 wine.

The viognier, despite its age, is still fresh. It’s a dry wine, with peachy fruit and a sort of oily quality, the kind of thing that sometimes shows up in the best French viogniers. The finish is almost pithy, which nicely balances the fruit and offers structure. This is summer porch wine – chill it and sip it.

Highly recommended, and a candidate for the 2022 Cheap Wine of the Year (as well as to remain in the Hall of Fame). The bad news? Availability can be spotty for the McManis wines, despite their quality and the fact that the winery us among the 100 biggest in the country. There appears to be lots of the 2019, which seems to be the current vintage, but not as much of the 2018. But, given McManis’ quality, the 2019 is more than worth trying.

Labor Day wine 2020

labor day wine 2020
The WC has just the wines to pair with this plate of barbecue.

Labor Day wine 2020 — these wines will make your holiday that much more enjoyable

Labor Day marks the traditional end of summer, even a pandemic summer. Hence these wines, which should cheer up even a socially-distanced holiday barbecue. Churro, the blog’s associate editor, and the Wine Curmudgeon will be doing that, if Dallas’ 100-degree temperatures allow for it.

These four bottles will get you started for Labor Day wine 2020; don’t overlook the blog’s porch wine guidelines:

• McManis Cabernet Sauvignon 2018 ($12, purchased, 13.5%): This Lodi cabernet is balanced, and neither too ripe or too hot. Its New World fruit (black currants, even) and tannins actually hold everything together. This a big red wine that needs food, and especially red meat from the grill. Highly recommended.

• Anne Amie Cuvée A Amrita 2018  ($18, purchased, 12.8%): This goofy Oregon white blend with a bit of fizz is always enjoyable, and it’s even available closer to $15 if you look hard enough. The fizz is spot on, better than some Proseccos, and the sweetness is buried in the back behind some lemon and red apple fruit. Highly recommended, and just the thing for porch sipping.

• Schafer-Frohlich Dry Rose 2018 ($14, sample, 12.5%): This nifty German rose features ripe-ish strawberry fruit, a surprisingly full mouth feel, and a fresh — and not sweet — finish. Imported by Winesellers, Ltd.

• Fantini Trebbiano d’Abruzzo 2018 ($9, purchased, 12%):  This Italian white, a long time WC favorite, is as it always is — tart and lemony. Chill it, drink it, and don’t worry about what other people think about what you drink. Imported by Empson USA

Photo: “Linner!” by jessicafm is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0

For more about Labor Day wine:
• Labor Day wine 2019
• Labor Day wine 2018
• Labor Day wine 2017

Wine of the week: McManis Petit Sirah 2017

mcmanis petit sirahThe McManis petit sirah: $10 California red wine that is well made and speaks to quality and value

California’s McManis family, despite the trials and tribulations of the post-modern wine business and the faint-heartedness of others, still cares more about quality than focus groups. The McManis petit sirah is just one of the family’s many wines that proves that point.

The McManis petit sirah ($10, purchased, 13.5%) is a reminder of the early days of the blog, when petit sirah was used to make quality cheap wine – a little plummy, a bit rich, not especially tannic, and just enough acidity for balance. Today, it’s mostly used to make sweet, “smooth,” flaccid red blends that cost $15 or $16, because someone somewhere thinks that’s what younger consumers want.

The McManis is the exact opposite of that, one of the best petit sirahs I’ve had in years, regardless of price. There is sweet dark plum fruit, but this is not a sweet wine. Plus, subtle acidity and the correct tannins. In this, it’s a reminder that California used to give us some of the world’s best cheap wine. Drink this with everything from takeout pizza to fancy meatloaf, and it wouldn’t be so bad on its own after a hard day at work, either. And you could do a whole lot worse using the McManis as a gift for the holiday that must not be named later this week.

Highly recommended, and a candidate to for the 2021’s  $10 Hall of Fame and Cheap Wine of the Year.