Tag Archives: white blends

Wine to drink when you’ve had quite enough of spam phone calls

spam phone calls
Did we get spam calls on those old, black dial phones?

Three quality cheap wines to drink so you don’t break the phone, hurt the dog, or destroy a lamp

Spam phone calls, already annoying, have blown up in Dallas in the past month since our deadly winter storm. We were already getting them for auto warranties, home improvement, Google business search, credit offers (“Don’t hang up!”), and people who want to buy your house. The storm added more home improvement calls, as well as those for solar panels (“Never be without electricity again!”)

Ah, how post-modern and entrepreneurial is that, scamming money out of death and misery? Because, of course, being rich is all that matters.

The Wine Curmudgeon understands why we can’t stop stop spam. But I also have to answer the phone when it rings, even if I don’t recognize the number. Editors don’t take kindly to being ignored.

So I’ve decided to solve the problem as only the Wine Curmudgeon can – wine to drink when you’ve had quite enough of spam phone calls. The idea is to keep quality cheap wine on hand so that, if the calls become too overwhelming, you have a way to calm down. It’s much less counter-productive to drink a glass of wine than to throw the phone across the room and break it – as well as a lamp and possibly the dog’s head.

So here are three wines to drink if you’ve had quite enough of spam phone calls:

• Scarpetta Frico Rosato 2019 ($10, purchased, 12%): Italian rose that is so well-made that I don’t even mind the pig on the label. It’s almost savory, with lemon and unripe dark berry fruit, as well as clean and long on the finish. Highly recommended. Imported by USA Wine West

• Cellier des Dauphins Reserve Blanc 2019 ($10, purchased, 14%): This French white from the Rhone is almost geeky – some oiliness from the viognier in the blend, some lime from the grenache blanc, and even a bit of spice. Imported by Plume Ridge

• Chronic Cellars Sir Real Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 ($15, sample, 14.8%): This California red seems to be everything I can’t stand about 21st century wine – high alcohol, too cute name, and even more too cute label. Which is why the first rule of wine criticism is to drink the wine before you judge it. In fact, the Sir Real is not hot, not full of sweet fruit, and even has the proper sort of tannins. It’s firmly in the Paso Robles style, which means rich and full, but also very well done. Highly recommended.

Photo: “Yesterday’s Call” by Vincent_AF is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

Wine of the week: Sokol Blosser Evolution Lucky No. 9 2019

EvolutionHow about a white wine from an Oregon producer in a 1.5 liter box that works out to $9 a bottle?

We’ve heard lots about the west coast grape glut, but we haven’t seen it translate into much in the way of lower wine prices. Sokol Blosser’s Evolution white blend, the Lucky No. 9, might be the first of many.

That’s because it’s unusual to see a wine like the Evolution, a white blend that usually carries an Oregon appellation, in a box at this price. The 1.5-liter box works out to $9 a bottle; typically, the wine costs around $15. So what’s the catch here? It may well be all those grapes. The box has an American appellation, which means 75 percent of the grapes didn’t come from any one one state. My guess, from tasting it, is that it’s Oregon fruit with more than a fair share from California’s Central Valley, the center of the grape glut.

Which is is not say the Evolution white blend ($18/1.5 liter box, sample, 12%) isn’t worth drinking. Because it is – the kind of wine to chill, keep in the fridge, and drink when you feel like a glass. Look for the slightest hint of sweetness, and not nearly as much as I thought there would be. Plus, it’s hidden among a variety of white fruit flavors – some tropical, maybe some peach, and a pleasing sort of apricot stone bitterness.

This is a fine value, and I’m not the only one who think so. Give Sokol Blosser credit – it saw all those grapes sitting there waiting for someone to be creative and figured out how to make a quality cheap wine and still turn a profit. What a unique concept for the post-modern wine business.

Wine of the week: Herdade do Esporao Alandra Branco 2018

Esporao Alandra BrancoOnce again, the Portuguese Esporao Alandra Branco white blend is terrific cheap wine

One of the best things about this job is finding a great cheap wine that remains a great cheap wine from vintage to vintage. And the Wine Curmudgeon has found one with the Esporao Alandra Branco.

The 2018 version of the Esporao Alandra Branco ($9, purchased, 12.5%) is a Portuguese white blend made with grapes like antão vaz that most of have never heard of. And that’s OK – not every wine has to be made with chardonnay. That it doesn’t taste exactly the same as the 2017? That’s OK, too. Vintage difference is not a bad thing as long as quality remains consistent. And it has here.

The 2018 is a little brighter and fresher than the 2017. There is more lemon and lime zest flavor than the than citrus fruit that the previous vintage had, and there is even a little minerality that wasn’t there last time. This wine is leaner and not as full in the mouth; again, not a bad thing, just different.

Highly recommended, and certain to return to the $10 Hall of Fame in 2021. It’s just the wine as winter ends and we’re looking for something lighter and more spring-like.

Imported by NOW Wine

 

Wine of the week: Moulin de Gassac Guilhem 2013

Moulin de Gassia GuilhemThe Wine Curmudgeon is a sucker for wines made with less known grapes from less known parts of the world. That’s because the revolution in winemaking and grape growing technology over the past 20 years has allowed these regions to improve quality with grapes that aren’t in great demand. Hence, a much better chance of quality wine for less money.

The Guilhem ($12, purchased, 12.5%) is a case in point. It’s a white blend from a little known part of the Languedoc in southern France, and the Languedoc remains little known itself. The wine is made with grenache blanc, terret blanc, and sauvignon blanc. Those first two grapes are obscure even for wine geeks, and it’s not like this part of France is famous for sauvignon blanc, either.

The result is a Hall of Fame quality wine that is just ?5 in France, and yet another example why so much of what we find on the Great Wall of Wine in the grocery store makes me crazy. The Guilhem bears some resemblance to a white Rhone blend, with white fruit aromas and some spiciness. But it’s not oily or heavy, instead featuring red apple crispness — almost juiciness — and just enough minerality to be noticeable. The bottle, chilled, was empty in a half hour, and I was irritated I hadn’t bought two of them.

In this, it’s the kind of wine that demonstrates the advantages of a quality, independent retailer. I bought it from Cody Upton, a long-time pal and one of the most knowledgeable wine people I know. Cody, who is working at Pogo’s in Dallas, asked me how much I wanted to spend — tongue firmly in cheek — and then walked right to this. Does customer service get any better than that?