Vendi Pinot Grigio 2009
Price: $6
Maker: CL Dolo, Italy
Variety: Pinot Grigio
Packaging: Bottle, artificial cork
Alcohol: 12%
Our Rating: 8.2 out of 10
Vendi Pinot Grigio 2009 Delle Venezie isn't typical of the varietal. It's pale straw color doesn't lead you to expect an overwhelmingly fruity taste. Its flavors are pear and tropical fruit, and this wine is far less dry than most Pinot Grigios. Light acidity clears the palate, preventing it from being overly cloying.
Barefoot Zinfandel (Update)
Price: $5
Maker: Barefoot Cellars, Modesto, California
Variety: Zinfandel
Packaging: Bottle, artificial cork
Alcohol: 13.5%
Our Rating: 8.5 out of 10
It's been five years since we looked at Barefoot Zinfandel (non-vintage), and it's good to know that not much has changed with this very inexpensive wine.
Buying Wine at Sam’s Club
I've always found Sam's Club to be a good place to buy wine. They have an interesting, if limited, selection ranging from inexpensive, mass-market wines to pricier fare. Some of their best offerings are inexpensive wines that are hard to find elsewhere. For example, after trying one bottle of the rather amazing Cameron Hughes Lot 250 Meritage 2009 that cost a mere $8, I hustled back for another half-dozen bottles. That wine is a one-shot deal - when it's gone, it's gone.
Wine Gift Ideas
I love this season, because all sorts of wonderful wine accessories pop up in stores. Plus, it's a time of year when you can get something a little odd or extravagant. I searched my own accessories plus a variety of sites to come up with some clever ideas for a few wine-lover oriented gifts!
Tilia Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
Price: $9
Winery: Tilia, Mendoza, Argentina
Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon
Packaging: 750 ml bottle, screw cap
Alcohol: 13.9%
Our Rating: 8.5 out of 10
Perhaps the strongest appeal of Tilia Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 is the ripe berry and licorice nose. On the palate, it combines cherry, red berry, and woody notes with an reasonably long finish. It's on the light side for a Cab, though I didn't really see the sweetness that a few reviewers noticed. This Cab definitely improves with some air. Despite aerating and a little breathing, the first sips were a bit harsh and not all that flavorful. An hour or two later, the wine was more pleasant and pleasantly drinkable. At first taste, I was thinking a sub-8.0 rating on my personal scale of 10, but after the wine sat for a while I found it more to my liking.
How Long is Boxed Wine Good?
How long does box wine last?
One of the huge advantages of boxed wine is that it lasts for a month or even more after being opened. This makes it very practical for glass-a-day drinkers who would find storing partially opened bottle wine problematic or wasteful. But, box wines aren't perfect - it turns out that the bag-in-box packaging is very slightly permeable to oxygen, and after a period of time the wine will oxidize and darken.
Cameron Hughes Lot 250 Meritage 2009
Price: $8
Winery: Cameron Hughes Wine, Geyserville, California
Varietal: Meritage
Packaging: 750 ml bottle, natural cork
Alcohol: 14.6%
Our Rating: 9.0 out of 10
Cameron Hughes Lot 250 Meritage 2009 is a big, tasty red wine! It is fruity up front, with cherry and blueberry flavors, but maintains some complexity as it eases into a long, peppery finish with chewy tannins. If there's a flaw, it's that the nose is surprisingly minimal. It's a Meritage, which means it's a red blend that must adhere to a set of specifications.
Bodega Elena de Mendoza Malbec 2010
Price: $8
Winery: BEDM Wines, Argentina
Varietal: Malbec
Packaging: 750 ml bottle, natural cork
Alcohol: 13.6%
Our Rating: 8.6 out of 10
Is there a varietal that offers as good a value as Malbec? Bodega Elena de Mendoza Malbec 2010 is yet another very inexpensive but totally drinkable red wine from Argentina. It's very juicy and jammy with blueberry and raspberry notes, and offers a tart, peppery finish.
The Bodega Elena de Mendoza website doesn't tell us much about the brand (reportedly, it is an E. J. Gallo brand), though it does say:
Banrock Station Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
Price: $18
Maker: Banrock Station, Kingston on Murray, South Australia, Australia
Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon
Packaging: 3-liter box
Alcohol: 13.5%
Our Rating: 8.7 out of 10
Banrock Station Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 is a very pleasant wine, one of the nicer boxed Cabs in mass distribution in the U.S. It's a fruit-forward Cab, with blueberry and plum flavoers, along with some chocolate, spice, and oak. The finish is reasonably long with medium tannins.
Electronic Tongue Analyzes Wine
Sommeliers don't need to worry about their jobs yet, but researchers at the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona have developed a device that is capable of identifying types of cava, a sparkling wine from Spain. The device "combines chemical measurement systems and advanced mathematical procedures, including an "artificial neural network," that mimics the human tongue and brain to parse levels of sweetness."
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