Wine recommendations from a real live wine seller!
I take back all I said about wine store workers. Kevin Currie sent me the following list of recommendations for good $10 wines. With his permission, I'm blogging them here so the next time I'm wandering a wine store desperately trying to remember the name of that Malbec I heard about, I'll know where to find it.My name is Kevin Currie. I work at a small wine shop called "Wine Country" in Eldersburg, Maryland. As such, I like diddling on-line to find tasting notes and internet writings on wines. I perchanced upon a page you all are involved in questing for the "perfect wine under $10 dollars." It is a quest that I share (as wine shop workers can't always afford much more than that).
I am writing because I have some good recommendations of wines under $10 that I have lately tasted - wines that have become staples in my repitoire).
First, as we all know, there are infinite values to be had from Chile and Argentina. For two great wines under $10, try these:
San Estaban Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2003:
This is a really dark cab leaning towards the earthy, rather than fruity, notes. The nose suggests black pepper, a bit of tobacco, and a slight hint of smokiness. The palate: what you smell is what you get! Intense pepperiness, milder tobacco flavors, and a hint - just a hint - of 'tarriness,' make this a monster cab. The soft but lingering finish is mostly pepper - just the way I like it! A few of the tasting notes I've seen on this wine suggest flavors of black cherry but to be honest, I didn't get much of that. For those that like the earthier side of wines, this is a great Chilean Cabernet. The price, in our store at least, was 8.99
Medrano Malbec 2003:
As you may know, malbec is being billed as the 'next big thing' to replace shiraz (and sales of shiraz seem to have peaked maybe two years ago). To me, this is a good thing as malbecs have a similar fruitiness and soft tannic finish, while generally being more complex (IMO) than shiraz. This malbec, from Medrano, seems a bit 'darker' than some - offering not only dark cherry and blackberry, but has a mushroomy feel to it accented by a slight bit of oakiness. Good and complex wine listing (again, in our store) for 9.95.
Here are a few others from different areas that I've enjoyed:
Columbia Crest Shiraz 2003:
It might be gathered from my above recomendation that I don't particularly love shirazes. True; I like them okay, but don't love them. This shiraz, though, might be as close as I will ever get to loving a shiraz. Oh my goodness, the cherry! That is what immediately hits your nose on this wine! The fruit-forward and somewhat jammy pallate shos a nice amount of cherry and blackberry. The tasting notes on Columbia Crest's website suggests slight tones of chocolate and white pepper. Again, I must dissent with those tasting notes. This very full wine is 'fruit forward' from beginning to end. No wonder it was called one of the best values in Wine Spectator's annual list. Our store retails it for 8.99.
Bonny Doon Ca' del Solo Big House Red 2003:
Out of all the reds under $10 dollars that I've tasted, I can say unqualifiedly that this one is the biggest one I've tasted. That should really be no surprise when we realize that about 8 very unusual and big-flavored grapes are used in this blend: grenache, syrah, petite syran, malbec, sangiovese, barbere, etc. Unfortunately, describing this wine is really hard, as the flavor is so complex to my palate that is is difficult to pull the flavors apart. You know those kind of wines? The ones that are so big, with so many flavors pulling in different directions, that they are just hard to describe? The flavors I did detect were these: plum, coffee, black cherry, licorice, currant, and raspberry. I'm sure there are more in there; I just haven't gotten around to them yet! Anyhow, this is a really fun wine, and given its fullness and bigness, surprisingly easy to drink. As an added bonus (IMO) Bonny Doon wines come complete with screw caps! CHECK THIS ONE OUT! We retail it for 8.99 (but I've seen it carried in most places for 9.99).
Okay, so i think I got a little carried away and have rambled more than I would have liked. Hopefully, though, I have offered some decent suggestions that you find as pleasing as I do. I will be curious, should you get around to it, to hear your thoughts on these wines.
We still have a dozen bottles left from my birthday gift, so it'll be a few months before we're out wine shopping again. When we do, I'll be sure to check these out!
posted by Chris Rachael Oseland at
2:11 PM
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