Price tags on wine can often be the one thing to steer you away from a bottle. Can a six dollar bottle of wine really be good? Yes, to my great delight, it can. I have had a few very reasonably priced selections recently that are worth every penny they cost, and more. A few selections were sent for editorial consideration, a few I have just found.
I was at Jimmy’s last weekend and tried an Orvieto from Umbria, Italy – 2009 Melini Orvieto Classico. Jimmy’s has just started carrying this nutty white wine with a great balance of minerality and earthiness with light citrus and melon flavors. The wine is very dry with solid acidity; incredibly drinkable, and retails at Jimmy’s for $6.99.
I was also recently perusing the wine department at Central Market and picked up a bottle of white table wine from the Languedoc/Roussillon region of France, Cinquante-Cinq Chardonnay. I am a big fan of how Chardonnay is made in France, as the flavor of the grape and the terrior for where the grapes are grown is usually the focus, instead of creating a wine that tastes the same year after year even when growing conditions change. This one was very light and filled with green apple, stone fruit and herbal notes. This retailed at Central Market for $9.99.
I popped into Goody-Goody the other day with the goal to buy my sweetie a bottle of Macallan Scotch and was lured into the wine department, as often happens. I picked up a bottle of one of my favorite Cabernet from Argentina, Las Perdices Cabernet Sauvignon. Created in the heart Mendoza, Argentina this wine, named after the partridges (perdices) that were winery owner, Don Juan Munoz Lopez, constant companions when he was planting his vineyards and building his winery. The wine is filled with black fruit and licorice with hearty pepper and cedar notes. A great Cab for about $12 a bottle.
Colby Red was created for Colby Rex Groom, son of winemaker Daryl Groom, to help raise money for heart health and heart related charities. Colby was born with Atrial Septal Defect, or a hole in his heart. After several surgeries he is living well with a new heart valve and at a very young age, has become focused on raising money for heart focused charities. His wine making dad appreciated this and with his son’s help they have created Colby Red, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, Syrah, Merlot and Petite Sirah from Treasury Wine Estate vineyards, a partner in this wine with Groom. A delicate wine that has rich fruit flavors balanced with spice and chocolate flavors. This is not a complicated wine, nor is it expensive. It retails for about $13 a bottle, predominantly sold at Walgreens stores, and has a great cause.
