Tag Archives: Pinot Grigio

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

Posted on by

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.

Weekend wine bargains: “soft and round” tops experts’ picks

Posted on by

Comparing the picks: A survey of recent selections from popular wine experts, spotlighting bargains and best values.

2006 Ironstone Vineyards Obsession Symphony Sierra Foothills, U.S.A. – California:
Natalie MacLean — “soft and round with a touch of sweetness” and the brand’s typical fragrance, her best-value white. $14.95

2006 McManis Family Vineyards Syrah, Calif.:
Jerry Shriver — serves up tones of black cherries and blueberries … “I could quaff this by itself or with a nice pork roast.” About $11

Tahbilk Marsanne 2005 Nagambie Lakes, Victoria:
Jancis Robinson — she calls this quite a rare variety, “pale gold and has an attractively wide range of aromas and flavours – ripe apricots and peaches, ripe apples, something slightly floral, maybe honeysuckle, and just a little bit of honey.” Under £7 in the UK

Banfi, Toscana IGT (Tuscany, Italy) Chardonnay & Pinot Grigio “Le Rime” 2006:
Michael Franz — “tasty little wine is fresh and pure and very usefully balanced on the line between light and medium body,” offering pear and white-melon flavors. $9

Yellow Tail Chardonnay South Eastern Australia The Reserve 2005:
Wine Spectator — neither heavy nor sweet, “soft and fruity, with spice and floral character piling on.” $11

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!

Weekend wine list — experts’ picks: ‘terrific’ Riesling to ‘seductive’ Syrah

Posted on by

Comparing the picks: A survey of recent selections from popular 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:

2004 750 Langwerth Von Simmern Riesling Kabinett Rheingau, Germany:
Natalie MacLean — you’ll find it to be a “terrific, well-balanced riesling with refreshing aromas of lime and citrus,” goes well with chicken, pork, ham. $22.95

Pacific Rim Chenin Blanc:
Jerry Shriver — “hits you with a seductive flowery bouquet, which leads to faintly sweet and lush pear flavors and brown-spice notes” — recommended with spicy Asian seafood dishes. $12

Cockburn’s Ten Year Old Tawny Port:
Jay McInerney — “lighter and mellower than the Vintage Ports from this house and slightly drier in style than other tawnies.” $26.99

Etim Blanco 2005 Montsant:
Jancis Robinson — she calls this 100% Garnacha Blanca “a revelation and a bargain … a full bodied, flavour-packed yet refreshing dry white.” £6.99

Stefano Moccagatta 2004 Tannat:
Edward Deitch — “one of the best red wines I’ve tasted this year … elegant and refined, full of dark berry fruit — blackberry, blueberry and boysenberry.” $26

Colli Orientali del Friuli, Pinot Grigio ‘Ramato’, Visintini (2006):
decanter.com — “marvellous wine from Grave del Friuli breaks the Pinot Grigio mould,” with its pale copper colour and “lovely purity of fruit.” £8.95

2003 Goose Ridge Vineyards Columbia Valley Syrah:
Lynne Char Bennett — a “rewarding” wine whose aspects include “dark woody notes, peppery bacon, extracted blackberry,” among an ample list of Washington state Syrah and Rhone-style blends featured here. $20

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).

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 Cotes du Rhone to Mendocino

Posted on by

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

2006 Anakena Single Vineyard Viognier Rapel Valley, Chile:
Natalie MacLean dubs it the best value among her recent white-wine selections, a “gorgeous Viognier!” $15.95

2005 Jean-Luc Colombo Les Abeilles Cotes du Rhone:
Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg describe this as slightly lighter than California pinot noir, with “more earthiness than fruit.” $10

Saint André de Figuière “Cuvée Valerie” Côtes de Provence 2006:
Dave McIntyre finds in it a “sunny, rejuvenating acidity and slight, enticingly herbaceous flavor.” $14

2006 Husch Sauvignon Blanc, Mendocino, Calif.:
Jerry Shriver describes it as “crisp and focused,” with melon and grapefruit flavors that should make it “perfect for Indian summer sipping.” About $13

2006 Castello Banfi San Angelo Pinot Grigio:
Peter M. Gianotti calls it a “refreshing Tuscan, with citrus notes.” $20

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!

 

Two Buck Chuck’s Italian cousin

Posted on by

People at work are starting to notice that I’ve begun writing a wine blog (who knows what effect my handing out cards has to do with it?).

As a result, I’m getting hot wine tips from various co-workers—like the one who excitedly passed me a Trader Joe’s flyer touting one of the store’s insanely cheap but often surprisingly stupendous-for-the-price wines. This one being the D’Aquino Pinot Grigio delle Venezie 2006.

For some reason, I’d missed that one in the past. So I thanked the co-worker for the hot wine tip and stopped at TJ’s after work to scout out whether the local shop had a bottle in stock.

Silly me. There was a display about eight feet high of it.

They say you can’t judge a book by its cover. But I always—always!—look a bottle over like it’s a legal document.

Hmmm.

Nice shape.

Nice color.

($3.99)

I’m sold.

There have been recent reports about another one of TJ’s insanely cheap but often surprisingly stupendous-for-the-price wines. Namely, the legendary Charles Shaw Chardonnay, aka “Two Buck Chuck,” which sells at the insanely cheap price of $1.99 to $3.49 per bottle, depending on the region.

Turns out, as ABC News reported last month, Two Buck Chuck took the top prize in a prestigious California tasting competition, trouncing 350 other Chardonnays—in California!!

“The characteristics that we look for in our gold medal winner … a nice creamy butter, fruity … it was a delight to taste,” declared 2007 California State Fair Commercial Wine Competition judge Michael Williams.

How legendary is that?!

In fact, a Wine News Review reader yesterday happened to mention it in a comment, ruminating over how it might compare with the “good wines at great prices” sold by an importer spotlighted by uber wine expert Robert Parker in a recent Business Week article.

Gaetano D'Aquino inspects his vines.Gaetano D’Aquino inspects his vines.

The D’Aquino may not be as famous as Two Buck Chuck. But it has a long and cherished history, at least in TJ’s bottom line. The chain says it sells more than 120,000 cases of it in 280 stores every year, which is about as strong a public vote of confidence as any wine might wish for.

The D’Aquino has been on TJ’s shelves for nearly 30 years, from the time when the chain had only 18 stores and Pinot Grigio was not the household name it is today.

Dinner that night also came from TJ’s aisles: Lemon Pepper Pappardelle Pasta with capers and canned Yellowfin tuna, which deliciously complimented the Pinot Grigio’s distinct citrus flavor.

The wine had a lively aroma, was refreshingly light on the palate with a crisp medium dryness. It might not beat out 350 other wines, but it was definitely a winner.

As a reality check, I paid a visit to the online wine community at cork’d and found the wine garnered an 82 score from a reviewer there—not a bad rating but probably an underestimation by several points.

Moral of the story, it pays to tell co-workers you’re into wines.