Experts’ weekend wine bargains: From hearty Cab to ‘Wasabi’ white

Comparing the picks:

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

This weekend’s choices range from an Argentinian Cab and a “Wasabi” white to a run-to-buy Montepulciano and food-friendly French Sauvignon Blanc.

2006 Terrazas De Los Andes Cabernet Sauvignon Mendoza, Argentina:
Natalie MacLean, Nat Decants — A hearty Cab that boasts dark berry fruit, earth and spice. “Fantastic red for the money! Full-bodied with delicious aromas of black plums and chocolate.” Her best-value red. $13.85

2006 Now & Zen “Wasabi” White Wine, Alsace, France:
Jerry Shriver, USA TODAY — The headline on this selection basically says it all: “Ohmmm ahhhh.” It’s a “touches-all-bases blend” with a remarkable range of characteristics from Gewurztraminer and Pinot Blanc to Riesling and Sylvaner. Worth getting if only out of curiosity. About $11

Valenosi, Montepulciano d’Abruzzo (Abruzzo, Italy) “Quattro Mani” 2006:
Michael Franz, Wine Review Online — “Run, don’t walk, to buy this wine! I can’t remember a better $10 red.” Especially if you’re looking for fruity opulence. $10

Domaine Galetis 2004 “De La Clauso”, Sauvignon Blanc, Vin de Pays d’Oc:
Beverage Testing Institute — The “best buy” selection among a tempting list of French whites, it presents a “dryish medium to full body of tart, tangy, Meyer lemon, melon, and ruby grapefruit flavors with a long, mouthwatering finish.” And food-friendly, too. $11.99

Banrock Station Sémillon-Chardonnay South Eastern Australia 2006:
Harvey Steiman, Wine Spectator — “Light, dry and fruity” … and you may pick up some grapefruit tones “as the wine lingers.” $6

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 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 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.

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!

The Web’s wine buzz: Montepulciano bargains and ‘love at first sip’ Chianti

Tune in to what top wine bloggers and experts are decanting into cyberspace with handpicked highlights of their latest and greatest. In this case, some great minds appear to be thinking alike in the wine world — and what they’re thinking is Italian.

Our first selections deal with the kind of wine you might drink casually, from a glass tumbler in your kitchen.

An everyday affair.

But still good.

So good that you might feel the the lovely, easy rhythms of Italy in each swallow.

We’re talking about Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, the recent object of affection of Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher.

As they say in a delicious article about this “informal wine’s straightforward charm”:

We guess there are some really rich people out there who drink very expensive, precious bottles of wine every night. In our experience, though, even people who love wine and have plenty of money are still always looking for house wines: straightforward, inexpensive and tasty wines that require little money to buy and little effort to enjoy. These are the kinds of wines to keep around at all times simply to pop open and enjoy when you get home from work.

Results of the Wall Street Journal wine-writing couple’s tasting: Each of their Montepulciano favorites rated Good/Very Good or better. And cost $11 or under.

“Ka-ching!”

That’s music to the ears of the Wine News Review fairly frugal affordability index.

The best value in the list was the Castellana (Cantina Miglianico) 2006, at (ready for this?) $5.99. And several of the five others in the review are not far off.

As the wine gods would have it, Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg at The Washington Post offer their own hymn to the grapes of Italy.

In this case, those particular grapes that produce that most famous of Italian wines — Chianti, a favorite with unpretentious roots that, as Page and Dornenburg note, is a top choice if your meal should involve any kind of marinara sauce.

In fact, they say, you should “build a shrine” to this wine:

A straightforward, invariably dry Chianti will pair better with red-sauced fare than will other wines many times the price. This wine’s popularity is well-deserved: There’s no better match with tomato-sauced dishes.

Why? Because of the simple pairing truism that “acid loves acid.” While moderate in body, alcohol and tannins, Chianti is high in acid, allowing it to stand up to a red-sauced dish’s own high acidity.

The article offers a tight, informative backgrounder not only on exactly what grapes are used for Chainti and what characteristic flavors you’ll find (typically, dried tart-cherry and earth reminiscences) but also what label terms to look out for to find “love at first sip.”

Though many of their selections are somewhat pricier than the Montepulcianos above, the 2005 Cecchi Chianti Classico ($13) and 2005 Gabbiano Chianti Classico ($14) might still feel at home in the kitchen rather than the dining room.

Web sips: Wine headlines, 9/13/07

Handpicked stories from across the Web…

Have wine experts forgotten the virtues of white wine?
Wine diva Jancis Robinson declares: “Dry white wine can be every bit as ‘serious’ as red.” Makes you thirsty just reading about it.

French launch carton of wine with a straw
Sacré bleu! Will it take this junk-food approach to win over France’s declining wine youth market? “…more amusing,” declares a straw-enamored 21-year-old Parisian.

No wine? Wine not?
And yet stateside, wine is making a comeback among college students. “I think it’s more social because you’re not down chugging beer, you’re able to sip,” says an observant Tulsa, Okla., college junior.

Snobless Sipping Where a Glassful Is Just a Glassful
Pay an intoxicating visit to San Francisco’s eclectic wine-bar scene.

Napa couple shares wine profits with the children of fallen soldiers
“No matter how you feel about the war (in Iraq), it’s about the kids.”

Patterning itself after the home of France’s classic Pinot Noir, the Willamette Valley is becoming a wine country destination unto itself
If this mouth-watering review of wines and wineries doesn’t get you packing to Oregon, nothing will.

Montepulciano high and low
The 30 Second Wine Advisor explains the differences in these far-apart Italian reds. Valuable info next time you’ve got a rib-eye ready for the barbecue.

Thirsty for more news? Follow up this serving of new and notable headlines by digging into continuously updated feeds from national and international news outlets: The focus is on red and white wine bargains.