With all that is currently going on with the economy, it is time consider bargain wines. There are many quality wines that are available for under $12.00. These are not second rate wines that you drink because that is all the budget allows. These wines are consistently good.
- Peachy Canyon Winery Incredible Red ($9) This wine has bright fruit, good acidity and an elegant finish
- Charles Shaw California Shiraz ($2) Yes this is Two Buck Chuck! This wine is a dead ringer for quality Cotes du Rhone. No wine snobs allowed. Trader Joes
- Guigal Du Rhone ($10) This is from Robert Parker and has a lot of dark fruit flavors and lots of alcohol.
- Barefoot Cellars California Cabernet Sauvignon ($5) This is medium bodied with balanced tannins and blackberry flavors with a vanilla finish.
- Parducci California Pinot Noir ($10) This wine smells like chocolate mint! It tastes like ripe berries and more chocolate.
- Tamas Estates Zinfandel ($12) This is a primotivo style wine and is spicy and peppery.
- Campo Viejo Rioja Crianza ($9) This is a blend of temparanillo, garnacha, and mazuelo in an old sylye wine with bright red fruit.
- Pope Valley Winery Cabernet Sauvignon ($8) This is fruit forward that is full bodied.
- Pirovano Montepulciano d’Abruzzo ($8) A good old fashioned Italian wine with a god balance of fruit and earth.
- Casa Rey Malbec ($9) Big and powerful with good balance and can stand up to heavy dishes.
- McMannis Family Vineyards Pinot Noir ($12) This wine has notes of chocolate and cherry.
- La Vieele Ferme Rouge ($8) A rhone blend that is fruity with a savory herbal and chocolate aspect.
I have discover how much better red wine taste when they are poured though a aerator. Try it and you will be a believer.
One Response to “The Best Fall California Reds Under $12.00”
I like to visit The Point - an oddity in that it is a patch of Washington but sits on the point of a peninsula which is in fact Canada. I live on the Canada side, but just across the border in a minute it is as if time stood still. It is charmingly underdeveloped.
But I digress. On one recent jaunt across the border, my furry friend and I stopped in at Dylan’s. Here you can fill up your car with gas for 2 bucks less than the Canadian side, enjoy a wickedly delicious ice cream, buy a bag of whole triple shade coffee beans, and perhaps a bottle of wine.
My pooch has a particularly good nose and it wasn’t long before he sniffed out an interesting selection of wines …it seems that wine making has finally gone to the dogs?
Three wines I had not seen before were displayed on the shelf and they all had the markings of dog ownership:
The first was Mad Dogs and Englishmen … and exciting red blend from Spain, big, bold and beautiful in the modern Spanish style, the sign said.
The other two hailed from California, Dog House! Checker’s Cab was proclaimed to be power packed yet elegant with full flavors of dark berries, California pepperwood and mint; while Maxies Merlot was written up as being sweet black cherries, strawberries and the perfume of iris blossoms.
Of course I bought. The bottles still sit unopened destined to be gifts at Christmas for friends who likewise have pooches with fine noses in their homes!
September 25, 2008 @ 11:06 pm