Tag Archives: wine bargains

This New Year’s resolution will help you find better wines in the coming year

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In addition to being a cause for celebration, New Year’s Day is also cause for dread — at least for those among us who subscribe to the dreaded resolution ritual.

The ritual is supposed to be a kind of antidote for the bad habits of the previous year. Problem is, those habits tend to be hard to break. So it’s the resolutions that get broken instead.

Dreadfully predictable.

But here’s a resolution worth considering, because it’s not hard to keep and because the rewards can be delicious: Buy better wine in the coming year!

Let’s be clear about this — the key word is better not more expensive.

There’s a big difference, as readers acquainted with the Wine News Review fairly frugal affordability index are well aware.

It all comes down to doing a little homework before plunking down good money for a bottle whose taste doesn’t match its looks or label teaser.

All the research help you need is on the Web, and I’ve spent the past couple weeks redesigning this blog to make it easier to find those resources:

  • On the upper right of this page is an updated Smarter Wine Search tool that lets you find reviews for a wide variety of wines by price and date of publication of the articles. It’s my own customized version of Google that only searches the websites of experts and news organizations that I’ve hand picked because of their reliability.
  • Underneath the banner at the top of this page are drop-down menus for the latest news reports about wine bargains, ranging from Beaujolais and Zinfandel to Chablis and Sauvignon Blanc.
  • And last but not least, at the very bottom of this page you’ll find links to everything from a food-pairing database to websites for comparative wine ratings. There’s also a collection of top wine lists from such respected sources as the Wine Testing Institute and Wine Spectator to the San Francisco Chronicle and The Wall Street Journal.

I’ll be using these tools to buy better wine (and blogging about what I find, of course).

And that’s my dread-free resolution for 2008.

  

The ultimate guide to holiday wines, featuring top bargains from top experts

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Holidays were made for wine. Or is it the other way ’round?

One thing we can all agree on, though, is that picking the right wine during this festive season is essential.

You need to come up with a wine that pairs well with the food being served, that doesn’t cost more than you care to spend and that delivers the kind of flavors you favor. And perhaps most important of all, stands the test of that irksome relative or dinner guest who presumes to be a wine expert.

Unless you’re in the habit of bringing along an indentured sommelier when you visit a wine shop, you may find yourself pounding the aisles in a ferment, so to speak, trying to divine the astrology of bottle shapes and label artistry.

No need.

All the wine stars are on the Web, and I’m here to point a few of them out, with a constellation of recommendations and top-wine lists to light your way.

The trick is to do a little homework before going shopping. Jot down the names of bottles that interest you. Or better still, make some printouts. If your local shop doesn’t have a specific wine, ask for something similar.

Let’s start off with an amazing competition held by the Beverage Testing Institute. More than  400 international and domestic wines were tasted blind by sommeliers and retailers to come up with bargain winners in the aptly named 2007 World Value Wine Challenge.

Categories ranged from under $8, $10 and under, $15 and under and $20 and under, along with some exceptional value and special award winners. Everything from whites and reds to rosé and dessert wines.

“These wines will hold their own with wines two and three times the price … choices for holiday parties and gifts; seek them out and save your money for other holiday treats,” say the wise men and women of the Institute.

Next, let’s head over to Food & Wine, where the Holiday Wine Survival Guide: Ideal Party Wines serves up several very affordable picks ($10-$12).

At The Wall Street Journal, Dorothy J. Gaiter And John Brecher decant their Top Wine Bargains of 2007:

The world right now is awash in wine as country after country, from Austria to Uruguay, improves its winemaking and seeks to compete in the international marketplace.

We went back over our blind tastings for 2007 to see how many wines that cost $10.99 or less rated Very Good or better. There were nine.

If all these bargains don’t tempt you, you’ll find some higher-end selections at Wine Spectator, including Sauternes, Ports and exquisite-sounding sparkling varieties, along with suggestions for a buffet menu to accompany them.

if you’re up for some even pricier numbers for your celebrations, two favorite reviewers, Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg at The Washington Post, serve up Just the Stuff for Roasts and Reveling. Most of the picks are $40 and up, although there a couple in the $20s.

As Page and Dornenburg say, “It’s the perfect time to raise a toast to the roast — and to splurge a little.” In other words, this is the season to perhaps let the Wine News Review fairly frugal affordability index hibernate.

But whatever you do, treat your wine with loving care, Page and Dornenburg advise:

The medium- to full-bodied wines that grace your table this season need time to breathe before being served. Some of the reds we recommend this week benefited from being open for 40 minutes or more. Pour the wine into a decanter or, if you don’t have one, into wineglasses to expose more of the wine to air, which will help to open up and round out its flavors.

Happy holidays!

Find wine bargains with our aptly named Bargain Wine Search

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Searching for wines — at a price you want, with expert opinion to back up your choice — just got easier, with Wine News Review’s new, user-friendly Bargain Wine Search tool.

For starters, this tool is designed to only index top wine websites, rather than the entire Web.

That makes a big difference.

It’s been said that the best thing about the Web is the huge amount of information it stores, and the worst thing about the Web is the huge amount of information it stores.

In other words, sometimes more is actually less.

That’s especially true when it comes to tracking down worthwhile information about wines. (To see what I mean, type “wine” into Google and you’ll find there are nearly 19 million citations.)

The idea is that by limiting a search to the most authoritative sources — the ones that have a track record of accuracy instead of hype — the search results are more reliable. Also, the time spent to find what you’re looking for is shorter because there’s lots less clutter.

Defining your search is a snap, with separate drop-down menus to (1) chose a wine type and (2) pick a price range. That’s it. No need to fiddle with confusing, hit-and-miss search terms or wade through endless links to unreliable websites.

You’ll find this tool, a highly customized version of the Google search service, to be fast and solid. The sources that are indexed include more than 150 of the Web’s leading wine experts, most trusted wine bloggers and major news publications from around the world.

You can also find links to the latest news reports about wine bargains, both white and red. These reports are continuously updated.

Like everything else in cyberspace, of course, this is all a work in progress. Suggestions and even complaints are welcomed.

Weekend wine bargains: from a “luxurious burger wine” to some must-try Ports

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

2006 Obikwa Sauvignon Blanc Stellenbosch, South Africa:
Natalie MacLean — a “vibrant, refreshing” wine with aromas of lime, gooseberry and grapefruit. “An excellent value.” $9.15

2004 R Collection Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley:
Jerry Shriver — “full-bodied yet drinkable, the oak is present but not dominant … a luxurious burger wine.” $19

Delta Vineyards, Delta Sauvignon Blanc 2007 Marlborough:
Jancis Robinson — “a very attractive combination of distinctive, top-quality, ripe Marlborough fruit and a gentle subtlety that almost hid an underlying minerality and elegant persistence.” £9.99

1986 Delaforce Colheita Tawny Porto:
Lynne Char Bennett — somewhat above the famed Wine News Review fairly frugal affordability index, but you get what you pay for: “almost Madeira-like nose is lifted with the perfume of white flowers … with perfect texture and balance.” $33

Cockburn’s Ten Year Old Tawny Port:
Jay McInerney — speaking of Ports, here’s a “great way to end a meal or a night,” and  “if you’re thinking of a chocolate dessert, this might be a good accompaniment.” $26.99

Mastroberardino’s Greco di Tufo “NovaSerra”:
Edward Deitch — “elegant and sophisticated” with “beautiful fruit.” It’s “light enough for casual sipping while far more distinctive and complex than many more familiar whites.” Interesting enough. $24

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 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 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!

Web sips: New and notable wine headlines, topped off by a Top 100 list

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Top 100 Wines
The San Francisco Chronicle serves up a keeper. The list spotlights a wide range of reds and whites, with bubblies and dessert wines thrown in for good measure. Print this one out.

Raising a Glass to (Almost) Organic Wine
Deciding on whether to go with a red or white gets a little more complicated. “Now the question is whether the wine should also be green.”

With wine database, you’re not alone
Speaking of wine selection, here’s a technology (and a pretty pricey one at that) that tries to come to the rescue of hapless wine buyers. If you’re willing to scan.

Students Pop the Cork at Wine Tasting
A Harvard education offers new benefits with a four-hour course covering 21 wines.

Thirsty for more news? Follow up by digging into continuously updated feeds from national and international news outlets: The focus is on red, white and organic wine bargains.