Tag Archives: Merlot

‘Desperately seeking’ $10 wines leads intrepid blogger to Chile’s Carménère

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In our “desperately seeking $10 wine values” category: I recently latched on to a Sierra Cruz Carménère 2007 from Chile’s Maule Valley.

The rich, red color prefigures its dark earthy, leather flavors.

And some pepper thrown in.

But don’t be afraid!

It’s dry yet not at all biting. A real nice balance.

Imagine: For ten bucks, a wine known as the “lost grape of Bordeaux” — the history of this grape alone makes it a worthwhile buy.

Once a kind of second-cousin to Chile’s Merlot production, Carménère is becoming more appreciated, as this backgrounder points out.

I certainly am appreciating it (as I take another sip).

For some other $10 values, I turned to Wine News, which just happens to be serving up its latest reviews of 100 blind-tasted wines.

Right beneath its “Tasters Choice” selections, ranging from $65 to $100, are the all-important “Best Value” listings. And among them are two $10 picks (and as the wine gods would have it, they’re both Chilean):

  • Veramonte, 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva, Colchagua Valley
  • Veramonte, 2006 Chardonnay Reserva, Casablanca Valley

Now that I’m thinking of it, let me see if I can Google an appropriate trip to Chile …

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

The Web’s wine buzz: Including tips to make Chinese New Year more festive

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Tune in to what top wine bloggers and experts are decanting into cyberspace with handpicked highlights of their latest and greatest. In this episode, we find advice for long-unopened bottles, tips for making the coming Year of the Rat more festive and a long list of reasons to think again about Merlot.

If you have a special bottle of wine gathering dust somewhere — the one that’s remained unopened through the years, perhaps with some fond memories sealed inside — start looking for the corkscrew.

Because Saturday night, Feb. 23, is Open That Bottle Night 9, as good an excuse as any to finally have a taste.

Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher at The Wall Street Journal explain:

Imagine if an evil genie took some of your very best memories and hid them in a wine bottle. That’s what so many of us do to ourselves. These dear bottles have a special way of retrieving warm and often-forgotten memories, but you have to pop the cork to release them. That’s why we invented Open That Bottle Night.

A nice read on what various friends of theirs have stashed and swear to finally open. You might be tempted to do the same.

You’ll also find a handy primer on the care and handling on what might be rather fragile vintages.

But that’s not the only wine-benefiting festivity on the horizon, as Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg at The Washington Post remind us.

The Chinese New Year (Lunar Year 4706) begins on Feb. 7, ringing in the Year of the Rat. This most important of Chinese holidays, celebrated by one-quarter of the world’s population, merits an extended 15-day celebration, and its time-honored food traditions are beautifully enhanced by the right wines.

Perk up the Chinese cuisine with their selections of fruitier wine, ranging from a “beautifully balanced, crisp, fruity and minerally” 2007 Rudolf Muller Riesling Kabinett ($11) to a 100-percent pinot noir-based NV Gruet Methode Champenoise Rose Brut ($16) from New Mexico, “with strawberry notes and a hint of vanilla on the finish … terrific with our Peking duck.”

The article includes a sumptuous pairing chart, to bring out the best in, say, those shrimp dumplings or whole steamed fish.

Meanwhile, at Wine Enthusiast, Tim Patterson offers a smorgasbord of reasons for reacquainting ourselves with that once top-selling red that has fallen from popular grace, Merlot.

A widespread urban legend says that Merlot was whacked sideways off its pedestal in 2004 by a certain movie set in Santa Barbara’s Pinot Noir country. In fact, according to industry insiders, the leveling off started two or three years earlier. Mark Pucylowski, buying director for Sam’s Wines & Spirits in Chicago, noticed that some of his California producers were grafting over to Syrah well before Merlot became a cinematic expletive.

In some cases, the fall from grace was well deserved, particularly the California Merlot that “was planted on marginal sites and/or asked to bring in too large a crop.”

But there are still plenty of good ones to be had.

And the Wine Enthusiast Tasting Panel brings us a long list of some of the best — originating everywhere from France, Italy and California to Washington State, Australia and New Zealand.

And many of them sit well within the Wine News Review fairly frugal affordability index, including the Banrock Station 2005 Merlot (South Eastern Australia)  at $5 (not a typo).

Need help picking a Thanksgiving wine? These top experts make it easy

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You haven’t yet decided what Thanksgiving wine to serve. Or you’re unsure about the selections you’ve made. And time is short.

The anxiety!

At The Washington Post, wine writers Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg know full well the pressures we’re under choosing wines for this annual feast.

“Even avid wine lovers can be struck with a temporary case of oenophobia — fear of wine — around Thanksgiving,” they say, with the wisdom of being award-winning wine authors. “The prospect of choosing a bottle that will please all of your guests and complement all of your dishes can perplex the most confident holiday host.”

But don’t despair. There’s a rich bounty of tips and picks across the Web, just waiting to be harvested.

Page and Dornenburg, for example, serve up a batch of ideas “to help calm any oenophobic tendencies.”

Among their several selections, a couple that caught my eye were the Australian sparkling Shiraz “bursting with berries and bubbles” and the Napa Valley Merlot that’s sure to come alive “with impressive blackberry and tart cherry flavors.”

Meanwhile, at epicurious, Natalie MacLean follows up on her earlier suggestions for Thanksgiving pairings with a list of “10 Top Thanksgiving Wines,” ranging from a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc and a German Riesling to a French Pinot Noir and an Italian Valpolicella.

All chosen because they’re “generous, juicy, fruit-forward wines that will both moisten the turkey and complement many of the side dishes on the table.”

Several full Thanksgiving menus accompany wine selections at Bon Appétit, leaving little guesswork about what goes along with everything from a country-style menu to a vegetarian feast.

For example, the Prosper Maufoux 2005 Beaujolais, Burgundy, a “food-friendly” wine boasting “plum and cherry flavors” seems a nicely priced country crowd-pleaser at $12.

Even Martha Stewart has some advice — a pocketbook-pleasing tidbit from bygone years: “Mid-priced is best. It’s not necessary to splurge on wine for Thanksgiving. That’s because the traditional menu has a lot of sweet elements, such as cranberry sauce and sweet potatoes, that aren’t flattering to complex and subtle wine. A well-made wine with more straightforward character will likely taste better.”

And the best advice of all comes from Page and Dornenburg: “After all is said and done, don’t sweat it. Thanksgiving ultimately is not about the wine, but about being grateful for the love of those you’re with.”

Let’s drink to that.

Weekend wine list — experts’ picks: From crisp Viognier to Veltliner

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Comparing the picks: A survey of recent selections from top wine experts. Whenever there’s an option, I highlight the more-affordable wines, focusing on possible choices for weekend purchases. Check their websites for full descriptions and other picks:

2006 Anakena Single Vineyard Viognier Rapel Valley, Chile:
Natalie MacLean — “crisp, well-balanced Viognier,” her best value white. $15.95

2005 Jekel Pinot Noir, Monterey County, Calif.:
Jerry Shriver — “beautiful, soft and light sipper,” not to mention: “Love, love, love this price.” $15

Casa Silva 2005 Carmenère Los Lingues Estate:
Robert Parker — “superb aromatic array” with lots of structure. $7

Domäne Wachau (Freie Weingärtner) ‘Terrassen; Federspiel’ 2006 (Wachau):
Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher — “simply couldn’t believe” the price for for this “fascinating and fine” Austrian Grüner Veltliner. $11.99

2006 J Pinot Gris (J Vineyards and Winery in the Russian River Valley of California’s Sonoma County):
Edward Deitch — “lush and beautiful,” with notes of pear, white peach and strawberry. $20

Gruet Brut NV New Mexico:
Jancis Robinson — “refreshingly zesty and dry,” tastes as though it should cost at least twice its price. $13-$15

2006 Cono Sur Casablanca Valley Sauvignon Blanc:
Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg — “a perfect match of soft, creamy flavors, making it difficult to tell where the oyster ends and the wine begins.” $12

2004 Benziger Family Winery Sonoma County Merlot:
Olivia Wu — “easy to like and easy to drink … it hits all the right Merlot notes” $19

Nothing tempting? Or maybe just not available at the local wine shop? 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).

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!

Weekend wine list —experts’ picks: From ‘excellent’ fizz to superb Riesling

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Comparing the faves: A survey of recent selections from respected wine experts. Whenever there’s an option, I highlight their more-affordable picks, focusing on possible choices for weekend purchases. Check out their websites for background and other picks:

2004 Chateau De Cabriac A.O.C. Corbieres, France:
Natalie MacLean calls it a terrific value, “full-bodied, supple and smooth in texture.” $13.99

Green Point Vintage Brut 2004 Australia:
Jancis Robinson says it’s an excellent value, perfect “fizz (for) friends who aren’t champagne snobs.” £12.99

2005 Bogle Merlot, Calif.:
Jerry Shriver describes it as a good value, “smooth black cherry flavors, soft texture, not complex but decent varietal character.” About $9

Firestone Vineyard’s 2006 Central Coast Riesling:
Edward Deitch calls it a superb buy, with “notes of apricot, white peach, mango and touches of honey and herbs.” $11

Frey Vineyards 2006 (Mendocino):
Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher describe it as their best buy (“fresh, real and delightful”) in a great review of inexpensive Pinot Noir, following what they call the Sideways effect. $15.99

Nothing tempting? Or just not available at the local wine shop?

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.

Feel free to share your experiences. And of course, enjoy!