And if you’re feeling summery, surf on over to the James Beard blog for five of my summer wine picks.

But to reward all of you site readers here with some wine picks, I organized and led a fun tasting of seven summery wines last week at a residence on the Upper East Side. I’ll paste the list of wines below for your perusing, from lightest to fullest, with some reactions from the folks in attendance. Incidentally, as I was talking about rosé being the ultimate lunch wine, especially if it was lunch outside under an umbrella, one woman had a funny quip: Who actually has lunches like that? Ah, perhaps we need an impossible wine-place pairing: the office!

Nino Franco, Rustico, Prosecco. $16. very popular
Broadbent selections, Vinho Verde, 2008, $10. sort of popular
Binner, Gewurztraminer, 2005. $25. I liked it a lot, they didn’t (probably too rich for a warm evening)
Bernard Baudry, rosé, Chinon, 2008. $17 popular
Marcel Lapierre, Morgon, 2007. $24. A delicious wine, unanimously loved
Rossignol-Trapet, Bourgogne rouge, 2006. $23 very popular
Les Hérétiques, vin de pays de l’Hérault, 2007. $8 very popular

Search for these wines at retail

The current issue of the New Yorker has a lengthy profile of Franzia that is well worth reading, especially if you’re not familiar with his story. Here’s how the author describes his winery in Ceres, California:

It also irritates Franzia when people describe Bronco’s facility, with its four hundred and fifty-two stainless-steel storage tanks–including six liquid oxygen tanks that once held fuel for intercontinental ballistic missiles and are now being used to make champagne [sic]–as being reminiscent of an oil refinery.

(In addition to the satellite image above, click here for a street view of the flags. Franzia had this to say about the flags in the story: “No California flag–they’ve screwed us too many times. We shouldn’t fly the US flag, the bastards. They have a felony on us.”)

One of the biggest puzzles about the American wine market is why there are so few tasty values made in the USA. Imports, somewhat paradoxically, offer better value despite traveling a farther distance and often having to pass through another tier, the American importer.

What do you think are the key reasons that American wines under $10 are so often uninspiring? (Granted, there certainly are uninspiring imports under $10 but there are also some rustic wonders that sell for three to six euros in Europe.) Here are some variables to toy with: short-ish history of American wine with relatively few small growers, recent industry consolidation, the soil and/or climate, high land prices, producer greed/pride, the three tier distribution system, or the consumer as chump.

Swirl. Spit. Discuss. And while you’re at it, let us know your favorite American wines under $10–or even cast the net wider to include wines under $15 if under $10 is too hard. Maybe in a future post we’ll do a low-cost throwdown, domestic versus imports.

I’m not sure how important the first of these two reasons is for wine consumers but the second is one of those things that everybody can agree is a good thing.

And so they have. Jonathan Schwartz, the hirsute portfolio manager of Terry Theise wines for distributor Michael Skurnik, says that sales of his five one-liter Gruner Veltliners from Austria have been zooming. “Restaurants like them because it’s an extra glass and a half per bottle for wine-by-the-glass pours. Wine shop customers like them because it’s a glass and a half more wine.” (A standard bottle has 750 ml.)

He said that people are interested in the closure too, which on the Hofer and the Berger, the two best selling of the wines, is a crown cap (think: beer).

So which is better? I tasted them at the Skurnik tasting today. Both are simple versions of Gruner Veltliner, clean and zesty with a minerally verve. The 08 Berger (about $11; find the 2007 or the 2008) is slightly softer and the 08 Hofer slightly more tart (about $11; find the 2007 or the 2008). The wines are both an easy extension for people who love pinot grigio but are looking for something new. Hofer is made biodynamically, which goes to show that biodynamics and low price are not antithetical to each other. Berger is practicing organic. Gru Vee.

Montirius, Le Cadet, vin de pays de Vaucluse, 2005 ($9.99; find this wine)
This blend of 50% Grenache – 30% Syrah – 20% Cinsault comes from a couple in the Southern Rhone who make their wines biodynamically. This particular cuvee is fermented in cement (!) tanks. When I met Christine and Eric Saurel, the owners and winemakers, a few years ago at a trade show, they told me that cement is more “alive” than stainless steel but doesn’t impart the flavors of oak. It is a great value with good acidity, fun dark berry notes, and tannic poise. I need to restock, probably by the case.

Les Hérétiques, vin de pays de l’Hérault, 2007 ($9; find this wine)
Made from Carginan grapes, this wine hails from the Languedoc region. It has a whiff of that bretty barnyard thing, which some might find off-putting and others alluring. But on the palate there’s not much to argue with since the wine has good fruit and tannins. It’s not as smooth or rewarding as the Chateau d’Oupia, from the same producer, but this one would make a solid party wine. Importer: Louis/Dressner.

Domaine de Fenouillet, vin de pays de Vaucluse, 2007. ($9; find this wine)
Marcelan? Yeah, I hadn’t had that one either. But it’s the main grape in this wine, also from the Vaucluse like the Montirius. The wine is a little less structured more tannic than the other two so I would use this wine as “ballast,” i.e. when there are four of you and two bottles are already empty and you need to crack open a third bottle of something decent that’s not too expensive. Importer: Neal Rosenthal.

So my relatives were the latest involuntary recruits in my effort to find the best box wines of 2008. You might think that the best box wine is kind of like being the tallest resident in Gulliver’s Lilliput. And you’d mostly be right. But since I called for more wine to be put in box format for economic and environmental reasons earlier this year, I thought that I owed it to you to do a quick survey of the landscape. I still think they make sense economically since they pack in the same amount as four regular bottles and mostly sell for around $20 (although the most expensive one I tried was $40).

What I like best about the packaging is the ability to squeeze off a glass a night for an extended period of time, thirty days or more according to the producers.

Standing tall
1. Yellow + Blue Malbec, Mendoza, Argentina (about $11 for one liter; find this wine)
This organically grown red from Argentina sees no oak, is shipped to North America in a tanker where it is packaged into a Tetra Pak–think juice boxes for adults. I’ve poured this wine, introduced for the first time in 2008, many times to groups this year, often blind and from a decanter, and it has been almost universally praised. And when I tell them it’s the equivalent of $8 a bottle, they usually wonder where they can get a case.

2. “From the tank,” Estezargues, 2007. Cotes du Rhone (about $40; find this wine)
This big blend of grenache, syrah and carignan, has that ripe, juicy quality from many of the wines of the region. New to the US market this year, it’s organically grown and has a complexity that you really wouldn’t expect from a three liter, bag-in-box format. One word of caution: I found that this wine depreciated a week after opening so it may be best at parties, rather than nursing it over a whole month.

The best of Lilliput
Underdog Wine Merchants is a relatively new unit of The Wine Group, a boring sounding company that is actually the third largest producer of wine in America. They know a thing about box wine too since they make the dreaded Franzia, which has stigmatized the box format almost single handedly. But with Underdog, they are generally cranking quality up a notch, appealing to specific demographics with various brands, which can more often than not, seem to be trying a bit too hard with cutesy names or text on the packaging.

The best of their offerings, in my view, are the BOHO Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay (about $20 for 3L; find this wine). You won’t mistake the Cab for a St. Estephe in a blind tasting but it seems to have something approaching on structure, without excessive flab that many super-low-priced Cali Cabs have from oak chips. The Chardonnay is also restrained in it’s oak effect, a good thing in my view.

Honorable mention
Darling Hills, Ovation, South Africa (about $20 for 3L; find this wine): a 50-50 blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cinsault, the workhorse grape originally from the South of France. It has a smoky note–think chipotle–that some that I served this absolutely adored, others hated. One thing’s for certain: the wine changed for the worst after only a couple of weeks of being open, so drink up.

Killer Juice (about $20 for 3L; find this wine): Another wine from Underdog, this wine is packaged with a Harley aesthetic and the dramatic proclamations about the “killer” quality. While I found it a little two brawny and low in acidity, it was a favorite at my aunt’s house as my cousins kept squeezing off pours from this one. A crowd pleaser.

I look forward to reviewing box wines again in 2009. Three liter box wines have been a strong growth segment for the past few years and consumer attitude, as least on this site, are ready. So I’m raising a glass in the hope that more producers will continue to see better wines in this format.

The answer was easy: sherry. A much misunderstood wine, it’s not just for sherry hour in the faculty lounge any more–it is distinctive and makes a great aperitif. And probably because of the confusion, it’s also a great deal.

In order to try this out, I bought the Hidalgo La Gitana ($10; find this sherry) and got some marcona almonds. On it’s own, chilled, the sherry is tangy and briney, refreshing and appetizing. But with the marcona almonds from Spain, the whole experience was elevated in one of those classic food-wine pairings that brings out the best in both.

And a little sherry goes a long way; we were able to have three evenings of aperitifs from the same $10 bottle. It may be the ultimate wine for an economic downturn. Pity the almonds were $16.99 a pound.

For more background on sherry, check out Eric Asimov’s recent article in the NYT.

Fonte da Serrana, Alentejo, Portugal, 2004. $5.99 (find this wine)
Alentejo is a hot, dry part of Southern Portugal that, when it comes to wine, traditionally has been more known for making closures–corks–rather than what goes in the bottle. But this wine will make them consider planting more vines. The alluring nose of dried herbs precedes the all-berry attack the attack, which, in turn, is followed by a surprising degree of bright acidity and gentle tannins. A GREAT summer quaffer. And our new house burrito wine. Day two it was still going strong and poured at fridge temp, marvelously refreshing on the deck. The blend is mostly Aragonez (a.k.a Tempranillo) and the indigenous Trincadeira.

Hugues Beaulieu, Picpoul de Pinet, Coteaux de Languedoc, 2006. $7.37 (find this wine)
Picpoul de Pinet is a blast of summer freshness that comes from a stone’s throw away from the Mediterranean. With a citrus zip of tart acidity, a light saline quality, this wine, from a cooperative producer, is refreshing to pair with 95 degrees–as an aperitif or with seafood. It’s easy to understand why Picpoul is known as the Muscadet of the south both for flavor profile as well as wallet-friendliness. I got this bottle from a sale that is now, sadly, over (bringing the price up to $8.99) but I will definitely get more for the dog days of summer.

True enough. Virtually all wine bought in American gets uncorked (or uscrewed) within a very short time after purchase. And at no price point is that more true than under $10 wines. So for today’s Wine Blogging Wednesday assignment of finding a Spanish wine under $10, I thought I’d try the impossible: an under $10 wine with some age.

I dug around the Dr. Vino cave, and came across a bottle of the Castano, Hecula, 2002. Since I bought it for $7 about three years ago, I had low expectations that the wine would still even be good. But it was a Tuesday night, so what the hey.

Wow, was it good, perhaps the most rewarding under $10 wine I’ve had in a long time. Alluring notes of grilled meat drippings, leather and tobacco permeated the aroma and the wine actually had an attack, a midpalate, and a lingering finish. While five years of age is just warming up for most more expensive and age-worthy wines, this under $10 wine may have been particularly long lived because of the grape variety, monastrell, aka mourvedre in the south of France. In a tasting last fall of this big red grape, I found that I preferred the wines with some age on them to blow off some of the gamey, animale character.

The sad news about this wine is that it was my last bottle. A quick price check showed only a few vendors with it available, and now they want $14, double what I paid for it three years ago. A sign of the times, for popular Spanish wines.

Check out wine-girl.net for the full WBW round-up of good value wines from Spain.

Related: “An open letter to Jorge Ordonez“

Why is it only a list of nine wines under $10 instead of the usual ten under ten? Because I’m grumpy. It’s increasingly difficult to find good wines with character under ten dollars. Blame part of it on the weak dollar (though my list here is heavy on eurozone wines), blame it on producer greed–they’re all just excuses! Good wines, easy on the palate and on the wallet are what consumers want. Sure, there are lots of great wines for $12-$15 and many more from $15 – 20, but these are out of reach for a lot of people to have with dinner on a given Tuesday. Producers take note of this market opening, ready to be filled! Meanwhile, we can fill up our wine storage areas with this value vino.

Whites
Muscadet Sur Lie, Hautes Noelles. $9.99 (find this wine)
This muscadet is great for oysters. Don’t you get tired of people saying that? I do. I have oysters once every five years and this wine is too good to wait that long between bottles. The “sur lie” aging gives this muscadet a richer mouthfeel but it still has the characteristic crsip acidity, faint melon note, and gentle briney quality. Fire it up with grilled seafood on the deck. (Importer: H2Vino, Michael Skurnik)

Vina Sila, Naia, Verdejo, Rueda (Spain), 2005. $10 (find this wine)
This is a classic summer wine from a grape you may never have heard of: verdejo. Fresh citrus notes, though not as much acidity as a kiwi sauvignon blanc, notes of honeysuckle and white flowers make this wine a great one as a warm-up (with light, salty appetizers) or as a cool down (poolside).

Creta Olympias, Vilana, Crete 2006, $10. (find this wine)
Vilana is usually a ho-hum wine that is churned out from the most recent vintage. However, in a recent tasting of this off-the beaten-path variety, I found a few that were recommendable with this being the most affordable. With delicate white flower aromas, the wine had a certain lush mouthfeel, with pleasant minerally verve. This wine + Greek salad + outside under umbrella on a sunny day = life is good.

Rosé
Domaine Houchart, Cotes de Provence rose, 2006, $9. (find this wine)
This dark, vibrant, and dry rose has notes of strawberry and watermelon. The lively acidity makes it a great food pairing. While I think that rosé should be less than $10 a bottle to be lots of fun I might be tempted to pay $12 for the Domaine Sorin. But this blend of Grenache, Syrah, Cinsault, Cabernet Sauvignon, Mourvèdre gets the job done on the deck in the summer.

Reds
Bodegas las Hormigas, Colonia las Liebres, bonarda, Mendoza (Argentina). 2006. $4.49 (find this wine)
This ridiculously priced bargain is one to buy with both hands. This surprisingly light and lively, unfiltered old-vine bonarda from importer Marco de Grazia’s project in Mendoza. It’s now our house burrito wine.

Terra Rosa, Malbec Mendoza (Argentina), 2004. $10 (find this wine)
This is a fascinating wine of the global era: Patrick Campbell of Sonoma buys the fruit from local growers in Mendoza, makes the wine on location, then ships it back to California for bottling and an admirably reduced carbon footprint. The cost-savings results in a wine of character, with good fruit and a pleasant and unusual level of acidity, at a very reasonable price. It calls out for grilled meat.

Castaño, Hécula, monastrell, Yecla (Spain), 2004 $9. (find this wine)
I poured this wine recently at a tasting and people thought it was a $30 wine. It has the wonderful mourvedre game quality on the nose, and serious but not aggressive tannins on the finish. I actually came across a bottle of the 2001 of this wine in the Dr. Vino Cellar recently (originally purchased for $7—inflation!) and it was among the most rewarding $7 bottles of wine I have ever had. I’ll throw some more of this one in the cellar and check back in a few years. Try it now with game or sausage.

Castillo de Jumilla, monastrell, Yecla (Spain). 2006. $9. (find this wine)
Given what I just wrote about how I feel about young monastrell, I wasn’t planning on being wowed by this freshly squeezed 06. But I was. It’s a gobs-of-fruit, beef-drippings kind of wine but with a pleasing lushness. According to the wine’s importer, there are only a few hundred cases of this excellent BBQ companion wine available.

Trentadue, Old Patch Red, Sonoma, 2004, $8. (find this wine)
California Zinfandel has sadly seen prices escalate: consider this one greed relief. Fans of big reds will find this a gulpable bargain with hints of dark fruits and faint spice. The biggest plus here is that—unlike some of the other wines on this list—the wine has broader availability.

Great question! And thoughtful gesture! Some retailers put together pre-fab cases but I have generally approached them with skepticism. Why? I probably don’t want one or two or three of the wines in the set case. And I suspect there’s something in there that the store might be trying to move for reasons other than necessarily serving the consumer.

But I put my skepticism aside and decided to put my money where my mouth is. I recommended Jeff check out Chambers Street Wines, which has a selection of pre-fab cases at $100 and $200 both red and mixed. I also recommended the mixed “Memorial Day” case at Le Du’s Wines in the West Village. Maybe it was the thought of grilling this weekend but for some reason I found myself clicking “buy now.”

Tuesday I clicked and Wednesday my doorbell rang. I have to confess a certain amount of excitement pulling out bottles I’ve never tried before. Even if I don’t know the producers’ names, the back labels sport the names of some very solid importers–Neal Rosenthal, Jon David Headrick, Classical Wines among others. And they were selected by the knowledgeable staff, headed by Jean-Luc Le Du, formerly the sommelier at the restaurant Daniel.

But the best part? $145.99! Free delivery in New York State. I’ll keep you posted on how the one-click convenience works out in the glass. The list follows below for your perusal. But if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to go put a bottle in the fridge since it is heading to 84 degrees today…

Sparkler
Giovinale Moscato d’Asti 2005 (find this wine at retail)
Moscato – Piedmont, Italy

Rosés
Docetanidos Rosado 2005 (find this wine at retail)
Tempranillo/Albillo/Sauvignon Blanc – Cigales, Spain

Commanderie de Peyrassol 2006 (find this wine at retail)
Cinsault/Mourvedre/Grenache/Syrah – Provence, France

Whites
Ermita Veracruz 2005 (find this wine at retail)
Verdejo – Rueda, Spain

Domaine Ogereau 2005 (find this wine at retail)
Chenin Blanc – Anjou, France

Desierto 2006 (find this wine at retail)
Sauvignon Blanc – Argentina

Chateau Virgile 2005 (find this wine at retail)
Marsanne/Rousanne – Costières de Nimes, France

Reds
San Romano 2004 (find this wine at retail)
Dolcetto – Piedmont, Italy

Burch Hall Winery 2003 (find this wine at retail)
Cabernet Sauvignon – Lodi, California

Camp Galhan “Les Perassières” 2005 (find this wine at retail)
Syrah/Grenache – Languedoc, France

Fonseca Periquita 2004 (find this wine at retail)
Castelhão Frances – Terras do Sado, Portugal

Vina Gormaz 2005 (find this wine at retail)
Tempranillo – Ribera del Duero, Spain

One of the oldest and most dubious sales pitches in the wine trade might be “this wine comes from the vineyard right next to [insert prestigious winery name here]. Similar quality, a fraction of the price.”

Uh huh.

So it was with my eyebrow duly raised that I met with Cameron Hughes. He lures Costco shoppers down the aisle to try his wine by telling them that he’s got a “$30 wine for $9.99.” Based on some rhapsodic reviews of his wines on wine web sites, the claim sounded plausible enough to lure me to meet with him for a coffee one morning on his recent trip to New York City.

Hughes is not a wine maker. He is part wine finder, part marketer, and and part salesman. And he’s introducing an innovative way of making and selling wine that is delivering cost-savings to consumers in the form of some easy-drinking, value vino.

He honed his skills working for five years in the late 1990s at The Wine Group, a company that few wine consumers have ever heard of despite being the third largest in the US through brands such as Franzia, Corbett Canyon, and Glen Ellen. He sold the wines “from foxhole to foxhole” in the fragmented market that is New York.

But it wasn’t until he moved to California to work for an importer that he “learned how cheap this stuff actually is.” He said he saw the importer buying wine for $36 for a twelve-bottle case that ultimately sold for $18 a bottle in stores, or $216 a case. He investigated the California bulk market and found some cabernets that sold for $30 in a store actually cost the winery $4-$7.

So he went out on his own and tried to tap the wine glut and introduce efficiencies in the often flabby wine market. After a couple of years on his own, barely breaking even, he needed a new business model. A friend told him that he had a good syrah and wanted a retailer to sell it. Cameron shopped it to Trader Joe’s, known for selling great value wines, and later Safeway. Both declined.

Then he went to Costco. Cameron told me that the buyer “loved it and said ‘I’ll buy everything you’ve got.’” The wine was bottled as Cameron Hughes Wine Lot #1 Syrah and the 2,000 cases were sold entirely to Costco.

Now on Lot #30, the lot program is a huge success having sold 37,000 cases last year. What’s the secret?

Finding the right wines. Like J. Peterman in days of old, Cameron Hughes scours the world for exotica. He often finds his wine bargains in the “spot market” for fine wines. The wines he buys are often not good enough for the top blend for a winery. Or he buys the crop from a vineyard owner who otherwise would have their fruit lost as it upgraded a large blend. So he rescues them, saying “I’m a bird on the back of a hippo—a positive parasite.”

Because Cameron Hughes Wines is more efficient, with low overhead and bypassing various tiers, they can often pay a premium to rescue good juice. But he won’t say what it is though, since he buys the wines with the understanding of not revealing their sources. Thus Cameron Hughes is the brand, or as he put it to me, a “super brand.”

He called the major wine producers “strap-on marketing machines” who buy wine, bottle it, and ship it. He’s doing a similar thing but on a smaller scale, with higher-end wines, and greater efficiencies.

Selling direct. Cameron Hughes Wines are only sold in two places, Costco stores (in California and beyond) and directly over the internet. Even though the wines are fairly limited production, Costco—the largest wine retailer in the country—is still a great retailer for his wines, Hughes says, since the Costco shopper is used to the treasure hunt. Since Costco might have sport coats one day and flat screen TVs the next, it’s not hard to imagine the customers buying up all his wine.

And they did just that one weekend in the Danville, CA Costco where 1,000 cases of a new wine walked out the door. Many wine marketers, he told me, don’t like his enthusiastic hawking of his wines on the floor of the store since his actions are forcing them to ramp up staff ready to pour as well. It’s a great image that practically made me want to go to the Danville Costco to witness it myself—me, wine consumer, being serenaded in the aisles by wine marketers.

But the Costco shoppers don’t just pick up the wine on a whim. Cameron has cultivated a rich email database that alerts legions of his fans to new wines, available at Costco and through him. Even though Cameron Hughes Wines is a licensed distributor, they also have an internet-only retail license and can sell directly to consumers.

It’s disruptive. He says so. “But what’s good for the consumer is good for the wine business,” he said confidently.

* * * * *

So is there a Cameron Hughes style in the bottle? After our meeting in New York, he sent me some of his wine so that I could put them to the test in the glass. I would sum up the style to say the wines are reflective of their time. The reds are big and the whites are fruit forward. The wines represent some compelling wine values and even though I didn’t like them all, it’s definitely worth taking a flier on them—hey, it’s only ten bucks after all. We had some friends over and here are my thoughts:

Lot 23 Meritage 2002: This blend of Sonoma and Napa fruit aromas of maturing fruit, not young any longer but hugely enjoyable still. Rating: quickly emptied.

Lot 24: Excellent value Sonoma County syrah. One syrah-loving friend was quick to claim this bottle as his own. When he saw me pouring this bottle around to others, he encouraged me to instead leave it near him and pour Lot 27 to them. Rating: horded.

Lot 16 Cabernet, Stag’s Leap: A very solid Napa cab. Rating: quickly emptied.

Lot 19 Stellbosch merlot 2004: an interesting merlot for under $20? Small wonder he had to go to South Africa to get it. Crowd pleaser. Rating: emptied.

Lot 21 Amador-Lodi zinfandel 2004: gobs of fruit, full-throttle zin, needs grilled meat. Rating: half-empty.

Lot 27 Russian River Valley syrah: Competent but see Lot 24. Rating: half-empty.

Not recommended:

Lot 17 Sierra Foothills Bonarda 2004: This is California barbera, in a big, extracted style with notes of mature fruit. Not a style of barbera I found convincing but I can see the appeal to grillers.

Lot 25 Napa Valley Sparkling wine: competent bubbly with a tad too much residual sugar for my liking.

Lot 26 Marlborough sauvignon blanc: competent but really tart acidity. And at $13, where are the cost savings?

Lot 22 Edna Valley chardonnay 2005: light oak, some fruit and acidity, but didn’t seem to add up to much.

Lot 18 Stellenbosch cabernet 2004: very un-cabernet-like.

For full details and availability see chwine.com

(image 1)

Box wine theory does not often meet reality in America. The quality of many almost all box wines found on our hallowed shores is enough to give them a bad reputation. Oh wait…So for inspiration, let us turn to France. They get it after all.

Domaine Sorin: I had the Cotes de Provence 2005 rose last summer (find this wine). At 25 euros, it was double the price of another box we bought, which might make it seem expensive. But the 5L box meant that it was five euros ($6 give or take) per liter putting it in the realm of gulp-tastic pricing. Domaine Sorin is made without chemical fertilizers or pesticides in the vineyard. The blend comprises of four classic grape varieties from the region and is vinified and aged in vats. Sadly it is only available in France. Perhaps another letter is in order? Dear Domaine Sorin importer…

For some worthwhile and no doubt more attainable box wines, check out boxwine.org for the round-up from this Wine Blogging Wednesday.

tags: wine | Wine blogging Wednesday 31

Behold Colonia Las Liebres (Rabbit Colony), our current house red. I bought a bottle for $8 and thought it was remarkably decent. Then I hunted on the web and found it for $5 a PJ Wine (map it) in Manhattan. But wait, it gets better: there’s a case discount that brings it to $4.49 a bottle or the insanely low price of $53.88 a case. I had two cases delivered yesterday. I figure that should get me through the end of February. Oh wait, that’s Wednesday. OK, maybe a little longer.

The wine is an unoaked, unfiltered bonarda from Mendoza, Argentina. It is an unbelievable value. It has some bright purple fruit balanced against pleasant acidity and easy tannins. It’s gulpable. It’s now my official burrito wine but I’ve had it with pasta and would love to try it with barbeque. Is it a little bit rustic? Try it and let me know your thoughts…It’s made by Marco de Grazia et al. at Altos de las Hormigas in Argentinta (Michael Skurnik, importer). Scoop up as much as you plan to consume between now and July. And say adios to Two Buck Chuck.

(note: the 06 label has the same image but with a white background)

tags: wine | value wine

When I was in Argentina earlier this year, I tried some of the local bubbly. Moet controls the Argentine market for bubbly through its local subsidiary. In fact, their local label has risen to a level of brand awareness on par with Kleenex and Xerox. Instead of asking for a glass of “champagne” Argentines mostly ask for a glass of “Chandon.”

The sparkling wines made at the Mendoza Chandon winery serve many Latin American markets but don’t ever go north of Panama. Domaine Chandon in Napa provides American domestic sparklers to the US market alongside the Champagne brands in the LVMH portfolio such as Moet, Veuve Clicquot, and Krug.

In Argentina, Pascual Toso plays the Avis of the bubbly market to Moet’s Hertz. This family-owned company has been making wine since 1880 and now provides something like five percent of the bubbly to the Argentine domestic market. But unlike Chandon Argentina, which you would have to go there to taste, Toso brut is exported to the US. It is a blanc des blancs made of chardonnay and chenin blanc. If you’re looking for a bargain bubbly, to stock for a large party or simply for a break on the budget, the Toso retails for between $6-8 in the US (find this wine). Light in color, with notes of yeasty brioche, it’s some farmer fizz that will add bubbles to your budget.

tags: wine | bubbly | LVMH

Texier, Cotes du Rhone, 2004. $10 find this wine
I pulled out this wine as a “third bottle” one evening because I expected it to be big. But it was lean. And very food friendly. I poked around the web and found this comment from the importer: “Eric Texier and his wife, Laurence, studied nuclear science in France and in Illinois.” oops, that wasn’t the important part. Take 2: “He vinifies all of his Rhones as if they were Burgundies. His touch is therefore light, and involving cold maceration of all reds…and the gentlest, non-filtered, gravity powered bottling possible.” Aha! Well, it certainly is an unusual CDR, but good nonetheless–and Texier is tres sexier at $9.99! Importer: Louis/Dressner.

Evesham Wood, Blanc du Puits Sec, Eola Hills, 2005. $13 find this wine
While I was in Oregon recently, I tried this excellent organic pinot gris. Russ Raney adds depth to the wine by blending in 15 percent gewürztraminer, which makes it a terrific aperitif wine. It has the floral notes of pinot gris with a hint of the lusciousness of gewurtz all with minerality and refreshing acidity—I’d like to taste it blind against some Alsatian whites, or forget that, with some seafood! The only bad news is the limited availability of the wine. But based on this taste, I’d be very willing to cobble together an order of his very reasonably priced wines from Russ at the winery directly. eveshamwood.com (503) 371-8478

Chateau Turcaud, Entre-Deux-Mers, white 2005. $11 find this wine
The Entre-Deux-Mers region of Bordeaux is a misnomer. It’s not between two seas, as the name states, but between two rivers. This wedge of flat land between the Garonne and the Dordogne Rivers used to produce a lot of boring wines but the economic crisis in the area is starting to invigorate the area as a whole. This dry white, a blend of sauvignon blanc (50%), semillon (45), and muscadelle (5) is great value vino from Bordeaux. Luscious notes of pineapple layer on top of crisp acidity giving the wine a great mouthfeel. It’s an excellent companion to potato-leek soup. Mmm, fall is here. Consider this a wine for between two seasons, not seas.
Importer: Fleet Street Wine Merchants

Zero manipulation, Peterson winery, California, 2003. $12 find this wine
I love the text on this label: 78% Mendocino County carignane, 14% Sonoma syrah, 8% Sonoma mourvedre. They even stick the vineyards on there too but I won’t bore you those. The point is, information! Love it! In the glass, it is a red, light color but not lacking in aromas of garrigue, leather and spice. It has good balance on the palate and is a very food friendly red for the fall. And zero manipulation, who can be against that?

Powers,
cabernet sauvignon, Washington State, 2002. $11 find this wine
If some entry level cabernets have too much raw tannin, then, ironically, this wine called Powers is a way to throttle back. A blend of cab from four vineyards in Washington State, the wine maker also added a gob of syrah and a blob of merlot from organically farmed vineyards. With a little age on it now, the resulting blend is smooth yet substantial and a good match for the beefy side of this fall’s dishes.

Vinho Verde, Fâmega, NV $4.49 find this wine
I have always thought of vinho verde as something of a wine curiosity since it’s neither green as the name would imply nor a still wine because of slight effervescence. Heck, it’s hardly even a wine by today’s standards since it has only 9 percent alcohol! But after years of scoffing at vinho verde I tried this one—not of my own free will, of course, but it mysteriously ended up in a case of wine that I ordered on line. I’m glad it did. It is a fantastically easy drinking aperitif wine with a sort of bluish hue, bubbles, and good acidity. With the low price and low alcohol, you could really put some of this away. And at under $50 a case—too bad summer is almost over! Importer: Admiral Wine Imports, Cedar Grove NJ.

Lafazinis, St. George, Pelopennese, 2004. $10 Find this wine
Greek wines have come a long way. This light summer quaffer hails from the blazing sun of the Pelopennese. Made from the Agiorgitiko grape (chalk up another one for the wine century) with no oak, the light bright red fruit shines through followed by a slightly tannic finish. Try chilled with anything you’re eating al fresco. Importer: Sotiris Bafitis.

Los Planos, Syrah, D.O. Carinena, 2003 $8 Find this wine
These planes of Spain may become known mostly for their syrah. This 6,000 case offering from the team behind the old-vine grenache of Las Rocas, has a similar unctuous, big style. Leather and dried herbs on the nose and blackberries on the palate, this syrah is going to be a huge crowd pleaser-and at this price, you can afford to pour it for a crowd. To make it fit better with the summer weather, try and chill it a few minutes before pulling the meat off the grill. Importer: Eric Solomon.

This list is updated weekly.
See the previous complete list of ten wines under $10.

Wines over $12 that are still good values:
Il Corzanello, $14. A delicious white wine from Tuscany. Read more.
Gerard Boulay, Sancerre, Chavignol, 2005. $21 find this wine