Yes, the wine business makes me crazy. And then I get to taste a terrific cheap wine that reminds me why it’s worth all the aggravation.
In this case, it’s the Charles & Charles Rose 2022 ($12, sample, 11.5%). This pink from Washington state is terrific every vintage, doesn’t cost a lot of money, can be found in some supermarkets, and my Mom likes it. What more do we want from wine?
The blend for the 2022 is more typical of a rose than usual – about one-half syrah, one-third grenache, and the rest mourvedre. This puts it squarely in the Provencal style camp, though – as the tasting notes point out – it’s a lot cooler in Washington state.
That combination makes the wine just enough different from the 2021 so that any wine geeks paying attention can taste it and wonder how Charles & Charles does it at this price. It’s Provencal-like with barely ripe berry fruit, but there is an almost orange thing in the middle and a sort of savory finish. So yes, buy a case and keep it handy for Labor Day weekend.
Highly recommended and certain to return to the Hall of Fame next year, and perhaps show up on the short list for the 2024 Turner cheap wine award. Surprisingly – or not, given what’s going on with wine these days – there is still a fair amount of 2021 left. So don’t be afraid to get a bottle of each and do your own tasting. Why should the geeks have all the fun?
Because even the WC — who never wants to shovel snow again — is almost worn out
Dallas’ record heat this summer (including a brutal weekend) has been wearing, so I keep telling myself that at least I’m not in Phoenix and that I put up with this because I never want to go through a Chicago winter again. So, as long as the Texas electricity grid holds out, I’m OK.
Meanwhile, three wines to drink while I’m waiting for fall:
• Bonny Doon Vineyard Vin Gris de Cigare 2022 ($18, sample, 13.6%): Prices for this are all over the place — as little as $12. This year’s vintage isn’t as stony and as French-like as in the past, so more ripish strawberry fruit and richer in the mouth.
• Bodegas La Cana Albarino 2021 ($16, purchased, 13%) Professional and competent Spanish albarino that’s more savory than fruity and almost salty. Some floral aroma and light citrus and very clean on the back. Imported Fine Estates from Spain
• Apaltagua Pinot Noir Reserva 2019 ($14, sample, 13.5%): Well-made and pinot noir-like Chilean effort. Soft tannins, reserved berry fruit, and balanced. Not complex, but that’s not the goal here. Imported by Global Vineyard Importers
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.
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
Yet again, the Father’s Day tie picture — the WC does love it.
Father’s Day wine 2023: Quality wine for Dad, because that’s what we do
Once again, wine for Dad for Father’s Day that fits what we do here — price and value, and not silliness or scores or expensive wine for the sake of spending money. And don’t forget the blog’s wine gift-giving guidelines — don’t buy someone wine that you think they should like; buy them what they will like.
Father’s Day wine 2023 suggestions:
• Pedroncelli Sauvignon Blanc Giovanni & Giulia 2022 ($22, sample, 13.9%): Yes, more money than I usually spend, but I love this wine. It’s top-notch, varietally correct California sauvignon blanc — so some grassiness, some lime, and even some tropical. Highly recommended.
• Douglas Green Rib Shack Red 2021 ($12, purchased, 13.5%): Pinotage, baby! Which means it’s South African through and through — full and rich, a bit tannic, and with lots of black fruit (plus the telltale pinotage aroma and some fake oak). Imported by Cape Classics
• VillaViva Rose 2021 ($10, purchased, 12%): Not quite as well-rounded as the 2020, but well worth buying. Still savory, some red berries, some minerality. Imported by Aquitane Wine USA
• De Chanceny Brut NV ($15, purchased, 12.5%): Amazon Fresh private label (as well as Whole Foods). Made with the Champagne method, but with chenin blanc as well as chardonnay and cabernet franc. A bit softer, some lemon fruit, but still lively. Imported by Dropping Wines
Reviews of wines that don’t need their own post, but are worth noting for one reason or another. Look for it on the fourth Friday of each month. This month, five rose reviews as part of the blog’s 16th annual rose fest.
• Bodegas Ostatu Rosado 2021 ($16, purchased, 13%): Well-made and very Spanish rose — so almost orange fruit, barely ripe cherry and crisp and fresh. But not that much better, given the price, than the $8 La Vieille Ferme. Imported by De Maison Selections
• La Roche Palais Rose 2021 ($10, purchased, 12%): French grenanche-cinsault blend (60/40) made in the Provencal style, so barely ripe strawberry and lots of minerality. Highly recommended. Imported by Monsieur Touton Selection
• Curator Rose 2021 ($5/250-ml can, sample, 12.5%): This South African wine in a can is a bit pricey, but well done (berry fruit, very dry). I’m told it’s available, but it doesn’t show up much when I search for it. Imported by Broadbent Selections
• Purato Terre Rose 2021 ($10, purchased, 13%): Nero d’avola rose from Sicily that is fruitier than I thought it would be (ripe strawberries, but not tart), but that isn’t sweet and has a longish mineral finish. Interesting and fun. Imported by Vias Imports
• Cellier Des Dauphins Rose 2021 ($11, purchased, 12.5%): Cellier Des Dauphins makes three or four French roses with similar names around this price — all are worth drinking (red berry fruit, refreshing). So why I am being so vague about which wine to buy? Because, in the finest tradition of the wine business, I think they’re the same wine, but with different names for different retailers. So if it says Cellier Des Dauphins, you’ll be OK. Imported by Monsieur Touton Selection
“We can vouch for the WC’s excellent taste in rose.”
The blog’s 16th annual Memorial Day and rose celebration, in which we celebrate cheap, quality pink wine
The good news as we celebrate the blog’s 16th annual Memorial Day and rose extravaganza is that there is lots and lots of quality, inexpensive dry rose on store shelves. The bad news? Prices are higher, though not much more than last year. Plus, they’re all over the place, with some retailers charging twice as much as others for the same wine.
And perhaps the most interesting news? There may be a rose glut, with lots of older vintages — some as old as 2016 and 2017 — lurking in wait for unsuspecting wine drinkers. We’ve written about a potential wine glut before, and this is just another indication that lots of old wine is taking up space in warehouses. Know that most roses that are more than a couple of years old aren’t worth drinking, so buy that 2018 for $5 at your own risk. Hence, the the blog’s rose primer.
The roses here are each highly recommended, and tomorrow’s post will feature six more roses worth writing about. Many are 2021s; the 2022s have been slow to arrive. In fact, I still haven’t tasted blog favorites, Zestos, Charles & Charles, Scaia and La Vieille Ferme.
This year’s roses:
• Tenuta Fanti Rosato 2021 ($11, purchased, 13.5%): This Italian pink, made with sangiovese, was stunning — savory, yet almost fruit punch-like, in the Italian style that almost no one else does. Limited availability. Imported by Massanois
• Mont Gravet Rose 2022 ($10, sample, 12.5%): I tasted this French blog favorite before it was released to retail and it needed more time in the bottle. Having said that, it should evolve into what it always is — clean, bright Provencal-style rose (barely ripe berry fruit, minerality). There also a 3-liter box, non-vintage ($22, 12%), and it needs time, too. Imported by Winesellers Ltd.
• Funckenhausen Dry Rose 2022 ($16/1-liter, sample, 13%): Another stellar effort from a small Argentine producers — cherry fruit, but not sweet, clean, crisp, and all a rose should be. And a liter! Imported by Global Vineyard Importers
• Chateau Fage Rose 2021 ($10, purchased, 13%): Unpretentious and professional French rose, made with cabernet franc, that is a bit heavier and fuller than a Provencal wine. The cab franc fruit (dark berries) shows through. Imported by Monsieur Touton Selection
• La Chapelle du Seuil Rose 2021 ($10, purchased, 13%): Provencal rose for $10. A little more ripe, so the strawberry fruit is more noticeable, but also clean, some minerality, and a hint of garrigue. Imported by Skurnik Wines
• Domaine du Tariquet Rose 2021 ($12, sample, 11%): This French effort may be difficult to find, and prices are all over the place. But it’s savory and fruity, with a wonderful, almost dark finish (and the blend includes tannat). How do they do it? Imported by Frederick Wildman and Sons
