Affordable Wine
I wanted to extend a HUGE thank you to my monthly readers. Up to 1,500 readers grace these pages every month, for that I am humbled. I hope to continue bringing you affordable wine finds and wine knowledge for years to come!
Thanks to Green Wine Bottles for the image. I LOVE these, what a creative way to re-purpose and re-cycle old wine bottles.
I didn’t hide my dislike of the Vinturi but there are a few indispensable wine accoutrement that I would recommend to others. A good decanter is key, a waiter’s corkscrew essential and the wine foil cutter, a luxury. I received the foil cutter several years ago from my brother-in-law. Skeptical at first, it’s become a well used part of my oenophile weaponry.
With a good waiter’s corkscrew you can dispense of the foil covering the cork with a few strokes of your blade. But with the wine foil cutter and a simple squeeze/turn, you can be done in half the time. The cutter slices a perfect circle around the top, exposing the cork. A little lazy…perhaps. But at $5, it’s hard to pass up, particularly if you’ve accidentally sliced your finger open on some exposed foil!
Cheers!
I’m a big Monty Python fan, I was listening and watching long before I started drinking wine. Good thing I didn’t take their humor too much to heart, otherwise one sketch entitled “Australian Table Wines” would have kept me away from some of the finest wines in the world!
In 1972 when this sketch was written I have no doubt the wine was pretty much as described…but baby, how far you’ve come! And now for a little giggle…
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“A lot of people in this country pooh-pooh Australian table wines. This is a pity as many fine Australian wines appeal not only to the Australian palate but also to the cognoscenti of Great Britain.
Black Stump Bordeaux is rightly praised as a peppermint flavored Burgundy, whilst a good Sydney Syrup can rank with any of the world’s best sugary wines.
Château Blue, too, has won many prizes; not least for its taste, and its lingering after-burn.
Old Smokey 1968 has been compared favorably to a Welsh claret, whilst the Australian Wino Society thoroughly recommends a 1970 Coq du Rod Laver, which, believe me, has a kick on it like a mule: eight bottles of this and you’re really finished. At the opening of the Sydney Bridge Club, they were fishing them out of the main sewers every half an hour.
Of the sparkling wines, the most famous is Perth Pink. This is a bottle with a message in, and the message is ‘beware’. This is not a wine for drinking, this is a wine for laying down and avoiding.
Another good fighting wine is Melbourne Old-and-Yellow, which is particularly heavy and should be used only for hand-to-hand combat.
Quite the reverse is true of Château Chunder, which is an appellation contrôlée, specially grown for those keen on regurgitation; a fine wine which really opens up the sluices at both ends.
Real emetic fans will also go for a Hobart Muddy, and a prize winning Cuivre Reserve Château Bottled Nuit San Wogga Wogga, which has a bouquet like an aborigine’s armpit.
Cheers!
Continue reading about Australian Wine, How far you’ve come!
I wouldn’t be a responsible wine blogger if I didn’t feature Freethegrapes.org at least once. “Free the Grapes! is a national grassroots coalition of wine lovers, wineries and retailers who seek to remove restrictions in states that still prohibit consumers from purchasing wines directly from wineries and retailers.”
If you’ve ever tried to gift wine, join a wine club or purchase wine for yourself at an online store, you’ve probably run into a myriad of shipping restrictions. Twelve States prohibit direct shipment including my hub in the mid-Atlantic. I’d encourage you to visit Free the Grapes and research you’re own State Laws and contact your local Congressman, I know I will!
Thanks to the Wine School of Philadelphia for the following wine recommendations:
First of all, you will probably need a bottle for those friends/family who don’t drink wine. Instead of getting them a bottle of white zin, grab a bottle of St. Supery’s Moscato (about $12). Its just sweet enough for them, but still complex and balanced enough to enjoy. Its actually quite good with cranberry sauce.
For a white wine, you could go with Pieropan’s Soave Classico ($13). Its stylish and crisp with just enough lush peach to work with some of those freaky yam dishes ya’ll will be eating. Another idea would be to go with the Gloria Ferrer Blanc de Blanc ($15); this is a fun little champagne wannabe with a touch of almond and pear on the nose.
For a red, I tend to go with the drench-it-all-with-a-fruit-bomb approach. It’s especially effective if you have a family like mine (I am never sure what is worse, Aunt Sarah’s Suet-and-Kidney Pie or her husband’s drunken advances.)
With that in mind, go for the Bleasdale “Bremerview” Shiraz ($12). A great dose of over-the-top fruit that totters between luxury and trashy. It’s also about 15% alcohol, which always makes the holidays more… interesting.
If you want honest-to-goodness class, then get a few bottles of Chateau Coufran Haut Medoc ($13). It’s the best bottle of left bank Bordeaux available under twenty bucks, and my current favorite anyday wine.
If the pumpkin pie ain’t enough for you, then you should have a
bottle of Dutschke The Tokay ($12 for a half bottle), too. Imagine a bottle of maple syrup and a vintage port had a love child.
A silver lining to the recession, likely a very good year for affordable, quality wine in the 2009 vintage.
Grape Glut Could Benefit Consumers
Nov. 4, 2009, courtesy of Marketwatch.com
The recession is hitting grape farmers hard in California wine country, where the spot market for grapes has virtually disappeared. That may be good news for consumers. Stacey Delo reports: View Video Here
When you run an affordable wine blog, you inevitably kiss a lot of frogs, or in this case very bad wine. My last wine store outing I bought a case, looking wines worthy to post. Out of 12 bottles, there was only one winner, the Luzon. Check back often, when I do post a wine, it’s definitely worth the wait… Perhaps I can turn some of the duds into gourmet red wine vinegar for Christmas…
Fall is here…and for me, that means the return of dense nummy RED’s! Choking back a 15% Shiraz in 90 degree heat is not easy. With evenings in the Northeast reaching the low 60’s however, you’ll find it much easier to enjoy this little gem.
The 2008 Luzon is a blend of Syrah and Monastrell. I had the wine in two different sittings several days apart, and to continued to surprise me. In addition to the black cherry and plum fruits, I also got hints of chocolate and orange marmalade. At $6 a bottle, this is an absolute steal and further solidifies Spain as an affordable (quality) wine Mecca.
Cheers!
Continue reading about Bodegas Luzon 2008, Syrah/Monastrell, $6!
Don’t be afraid of the bargain bin, you’ll find some true diamonds in the rough. My local wine store must have bought WAY too much of this vintage and they were dumping it for pennies on the dollar. Their loss, our gain…
I’ve never had much luck finding a South African red I like, but the Seidelberg Merlot really surprised me! I was immediately met on the palate with smoke, then smoked bacon and ripe berries. It was thoroughly enjoyable and a unique departure from my recent tipples. Drink the Seidelberg 2003 Merlot now, it should pair nicely with your next BBQ or cheese plate.
Cheers!
LOVED this wine. Not only was it affordable, but it exuded some under-ripe peach notes on the nose and palate…delicious. Most wine is made to drink young and the 2008 Arona is no exception.
Australia cranks out a LOT of beefy reds, but I’ve been very impressed with New Zealand’s whites. Buy a bottle (or three!) of the 2008 Arona Sauvignon Blanc with confidence, it’s joy in a glass on a hot, humid day.
Cheers!
