Tag Archives: Bargains

Experts’ weekend wine picks: From South African favorite to Pinot Grigio bargain

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Comparing the picks: A survey of recent selections from popular wine experts and websites, spotlighting bargains and best values among other choices at their websites.

The Wine Cellar: Earthy South African reds evoke the Old World

An update on South African wines, with a notable favorite highlighted, from Frank Sutherland and Kate Sutherland, Gannett News Service:

“In a world of homogenized wine styles, South African reds really stand out. They have remained true to the distinctive style of the region; no other wine in the world tastes like a South African wine.

“They often have a gravelly, dusty quality and flavors of green pepper, olive, and peat. These are true “terroir” wines — they reflect the qualities of the earth in which the grapes were grown. As such, they tend to taste more like a European wine than a New World offering.”

And now to highlight the favorite: 2003 Vergelegen “Mill Race,” $24.99.

Single-Vineyard Russian River Valley Pinot Noir

A review of standouts from a region noted for its Pinot Noirs, from Lynne Char Bennett, San Francisco Chronicle:

“The panel found lots to like among the 57 vineyard-designate Russian River Valley Pinots, which are made from vintners’ best, most distinctive grapes. The wines showed well and are displaying depth, complexity and less noticeable alcohol levels than many from the hot 2004 vintage.”

One of the more-affordable two-and-one-half-star winners: 2006 Hawley Oehlman Vineyard Russian River Valley Pinot Noir, $33.

Stock spring picnic with affordable Washington wines

A dozen selections tuned to different courses for a wine tasting or meal, from Paul Gregutt, The Seattle Times:

“Rather than worry about matching particular wines to particular foods, I put together a group of whites and reds that allowed the guests to mix and match according to their own tastes and whims.”

The terms affordable and outstanding pair quite well in this description: Columbia Crest Two Vines 2006 Sauvignon Blanc, $8

Top 5 Box Wines

Nicely priced boxed wines (and handy food recommendations), from Jeffery Lindenmuth, Epicurious:

“Box wines (a.k.a. boxed wines) have become popular in recent years because they hold more wine than a single bottle, they’re light and recyclable, they’re easy to open and reseal, they chill quickly, and they won’t break if you drop them.”

This one-liter pick is said to show more character than the bottled types: Three Thieves Bandit Pinot Grigio 2006, about $9.

Tip: Print out this list and bring it to your local wine shop — even if a specific favorite isn’t available, ask the salesperson to recommend something similar. Or try browsing the latest wine reports from this custom collection of hundreds of news websites — filtered for bargains, continuously updated, and quick and easy to scan:

  • Reds (from Beaujolais to Zinfandel)
  • Whites (from Chablis to Sauvignon Blanc)
  • Organic (red, white, in between)

To hit closer to home, try WNR’s Smarter Wine Search tool and see what wine finds columnists and wine experts may be writing about in your area. Once there, just type in your city and state (within quotation marks, as in, "Napa, California"), to get results ranked by relevance.

Or scroll down to the bottom of this page and dig into top wine lists from a variety of sources. You’ll also find links to everything from a food-pairing database to websites for comparative wine ratings.

Bargain wines big winners in a new book whose testers tried 6,000 glasses of wine

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On a lark, I’ve been know to select a wine by the welcoming contour of the bottle in my hand.

Or when a fantastic label design meets my eye.

Sometimes I like what I get.

Sometimes not.

But the point is, after tasting, I know what I like.

Or so I think.

When the wine stars align in a particular way and I decide to splurge on the product of some otherwise fiscally forbidding region of France or Italy, does the price help make up my mind about its likeableness a bit?

Am I sometimes duped by a particular vineyard’s celebrity status into discerning a deliciousness I could have more affordably found in Two-Buck Chuck?

Several recent articles (including at The New York Times and Newsweek) explore the labyrinthine psychology of wine appreciation.

They come in the wake of a new book, The Wine Trials, that boasts of uncovering “100 wines under $15 that outscored $50-$150 wines in brown-bag blind tastings.”

Those results are based on tastings of more than 6,000 glasses of wine by 500 wine experts and everyday wine drinkers, according to the book publisher. Press kit examples:

  • Two-thirds of tasters preferred a $12 Domaine Ste. Michelle Brut, a Washington State sparkling wine, to a $150 Dom Pérignon Champagne; a six-dollar Vinho Verde from Portugal beat out a $40 California Chardonnay and a $50 1er Cru white Burgundy.

Other picks from the book:

  • Aveleda Vinho Verde, Portugal, $6
  • La Vieille Ferme Rouge, Perrin & Fils, France, $8
  • Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc, New Zealand, $13

These findings shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to alert readers of Wine News Review, home of the aptly named fairly frugal affordability index.

As I say in the About page concerning the guiding principle of this blog: “Even some of the world’s top experts acknowledge, wine doesn’t have to be pricey to be good.”

Scientists, too, have chimed in.

A California Institute of Technology study earlier this year — plumbing the exotic field of neuroeconomics, the subconscious appeal of expensive stuff — found that people report a greater enjoyment of wine if they think it costs more.

Turns out, that’s no big surprise either, in wine circles, at least, according to this Times Online article:

Rupert Wollheim, a master of wine who runs ripegrapes.co.uk, an online wine retailer, said that the response described by [the study] was well known in the wine business.

He said: ‘Price is just one of the elements, but if you served the same wine in better glasses or a grander environment, that would also make people think the very same wine was better.’

USA TODAY‘s Jerry Shriver decided to put the tester to the test. He tried 10 wines blind. And then he tried the same wines with the labels visible.

Interestingly, he discovered that his top three favorite wines were the same from both tastings (including this affordable pick: 2007 Georges Duboeuf Clos des Quatre Vents, Fleurie, Beaujolais, France, about $12).

Which reminds me of an observation in one of my previous postings: Just as Duke Ellington opined about the quality of music (“If it sounds good, it is good”), the same could also be said about wine.

If it tastes good, it is good.

Even if it’s inexpensive!

Want to find a perfectly priced bottle of wine? Give the Smarter Wine Search a try.

Weekend wine list — experts’ picks: from ‘peaceful’ to bubbly pleasure

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Comparing the picks: A survey of recent selections from popular wine experts, ranging from a powerfully drinkable Cabernet and “peaceful” Chardonnay to a plentifully pleasurable bubbly and a black-cherry high-ender.

2005 Jacques & François Lurton Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon Mendozza, Argentina:
Natalie MacLean — combining “drinkability with power,” this Cabernet serves up “a whole lot of quality per cubic milliliter.” $14.95

2006 Buehler Vineyards Chardonnay, Russian River Valley, Calif.:
Jerry Shriver — a “peaceful wine” … the “gentleness of the ripe pear flavors, the soothing quality of the creamy texture and the homespun baked-cookie aromas just put me in an all-is-right-with-the-world mood.” $14

Alceño/Pedro Luis Martinez, Jumilla (Murcia, Spain) Crianza “Seleccion” 2004:
Michael Franz — “very well made from impressive material” and exhibiting complex flavors ranging from “subtly toasty oak … and light spices,” along with fruitiness. $16

J Laurens, Les Graimenous Brut 2005 Crémant de Limoux:
Jancis Robinson — “pleasure a plenty” seems to say it all for the dry bubbly from the far south of France that greets you with “deliciously inviting aromas of freshly baked apples and cream” when your nose first touches it. From £7.49 in the UK and also available in Europe and the US

2006 Colonia Las Liebres (bonarda):
Edward Deitch — a find from the Rivadavia and East Mendoza regions of Argentina, “a first-rate wine and an excellent value.” $7

2004 Corison Winery Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon:
Lynne Char Bennett — seemingly the best pick from this group of high-enders (let’s put the WNR fairly frugal affordability index aside temporarily) with a nose that “shows black cherry, cola and baking spice amid toast and sweet vanilla.” $70

Whenever there’s an option, the more-affordable wine is spotlighted, focusing on possible choices for weekend purchases. Prices are approximate. Check websites for full descriptions and other picks

Tip: Print out this list and bring it to you local wine shop — even if a specific favorite isn’t available, ask the salesperson to recommend something similar. Or try browsing the latest wine reports from this custom collection of hundreds of news websites — filtered for bargains, continuously updated, and quick and easy to scan:

  • Reds (from Beaujolais to Zinfandel)
  • Whites (from Chablis to Sauvignon Blanc)
  • Organic (red, white, in between)

To hit closer to home, try WNR’s Advanced Wine Search tool and see what wine finds local columnists and wine experts may be writing about in your area. Once there, just type in your city and state (within quotation marks, as in, “Napa, California”), to get results ranked by relevance.

Or dig into some perennial standbys at SFGate.com’s Top 100 Wines of 2006, the Top 100 of 2006 list (PDF download) from Wine Spectator and the list of 50 Wines You Can Always Trust from Food & Wine.

Attracted to a bottle that’s advertised in the local paper or sitting on the local wine store shelf?

Do a little background research with Wine Enthusiast’s free, searchable Wine Buying Guide—either with a specific name or by types and price. For a little extra info, try Robert Parker’s handy Vintage Chart. Or see what the online wine community says about it with the search tools at cork’d, snooth or Wine Log.

Once you’ve selected the wine, you naturally want to decide what to eat with it. For some savvy guidance, try Natalie MacLean’s Wine & Food Matcher, which boasts a database of 360,000 wine-food pairings.

The Web is about community. So take a moment to comment about your experience with a particular wine — to help steer others to or away from it. And of course, have a great weekend!