Red Wines

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.

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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. [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

Seven Red Table Wine

Price: $19 Maker: Bodegas Osborne, Malpica de Tajo, Spain Varietal: Red Blend Packaging: 3-liter box Alcohol: 13.5% Our Rating: 8.6 out of 10

Seven Red Table Wine is one of the newer boxes available in mass distribution. It’s from Spain, it’s in a cool octagonal bag-in-box package, and it’s surprisingly good. [...]

Zarpado Malbec 2009

Price: $7 Winery: Mendoza Vineyards, Mendoza, Argentina Varietal: Malbec Packaging: 750 ml bottle, natural cork Alcohol: 13.7% Our Rating: 8.7 out of 10

Malbecs tend to offer some of the better red wine values, but for a mere seven bucks Zarpado Malbec 2009 is an even better value than most. It has [...]

Grayson Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon 2009

Price: $10 Winery: Grayson Cellars, St. Helena, California Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon Packaging: 750 ml bottle, natural cork Alcohol: 13.9% Our Rating: 9.1 out of 10

It’s not often that one gets a really nice Cab for a mere ten bucks, but Grayson Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 (Lot 10) is one such wine. This Cab is [...]

Oops! $1 Million in Fancy Shiraz Lost

What’s one advantage of inexpensive wines? Well, if a forklift driver drops a load, you won’t be out a million bucks. That’s exactly what happened in Australia. 462 cases of 2010 Mollydooker Velvet Glove shiraz — worth about $200 for each and every bottle — were smashed while being loaded onto a ship in Adelaide. [...]

A History of Zinfandel

Zinfandels are perhaps my favorite reds – particularly the big, bold, not overly sweet Zins that combine rich complexity with plenty of fruit. I enjoy Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Chianti, Bordeaux, and many other red wines, but somehow Zins are special. I was delighted to run across a wonderful chronicle of Zinfandel history at [...]

Box Wines