After last month’s dismal showing (only one of seven wines deemed worth drinking) one had to wonder if it might be better to give up and just drink beer. But wine geeks, like treasure hunters, are eternal optimists. Looking for that undiscovered jewel is what it’s all about.
Happily, our persistence was rewarded. Everyone liked the Sauvignon Blancs, fresh citrus flavors at bargain prices. The Contadino was a friendly puppy, slightly bubbly, what the French call “frizzant,” or effervescent. The Abrazo was the favorite red. We agreed it had nice, complex flavors, whatever that means. Our research to date indicates it’s easier to find good cheap whites than reds.
Joy made her almost famous herbed cheese bread to go with an assortment of wine-friendly snacks. Let the pros gargle, spit, and rinse I’ll cleanse my palate with a tasty snack any day.
Ratings:
Hoorah – Run out and buy it before they run out
Yah – Enjoyable, would buy again
Shrug – Drinkable, but not memorable
Nah – Life is too short to drink bad wine, marinate something in it.
| Whites | Price | Nah | Shrug | Yah | Hoorah | ||||||
| 1 | NOBILO, Sauvignon Blanc, 2008 ½ btl. | GO | $2.99 | 3 | 4 | ||||||
| New Zealand | |||||||||||
| 2 | CONTADINO, Pinot Grigio, 2008 | TJ | $4.99 | 1 | 5 | 1 | |||||
| Italy | |||||||||||
| 3 | La FERME JULIAN, Rhone, 2008 | TJ | $4.99 | 5 | 2 | ||||||
| France | |||||||||||
| 4 | MYSTERY CREEK, Sauvignon Blanc, 2007 | GO | $4.99 | 4 | 3 | ||||||
| Reds | Price | Nah | Shrug | Yah | Hoorah | ||||||
| 1 | SANTINO, Zinfandel, 2005 | Big Lots | $3.00 | 4 | 2 | ||||||
| California | |||||||||||
| 2 | La FINCA, Malbec, 2008 | TJ | $3.99 | 1 | 5 | ||||||
| Argentina | |||||||||||
| 3 | OLD MOON, Zinfandel, 2007 | TJ | $4.99 | 7 | |||||||
| California | |||||||||||
| 4 | ABRAZO, Garnache/Tempranillo, 2008 | TJ | $4.99 | 6 | 1 | ||||||
| Spain | |||||||||||
| 5 | VALREAS, Cotes Du Rhone, 2007 | TJ | $5.99 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
Don brought a new toy, a wine-aerating pourer. It’s supposed to make young red wine better. It also gave us an excuse to taste each red twice. We concluded that it usually works, sometimes spectacularly. In our tasting, it raised the Old Moon to one shrug and six yahs. Don and Bruce surmised this wine, a pizza, and an NFL game in your man-cave would be a perfect fit. The Finca also greatly improved to three shrugs and four yahs. The others, not so much. You can achieve the same effect by decanting or by opening the wine one to two hours before drinking.
Don Cohen is a retired commodities trader who has lived in Redding for 10 years. Joy Yoshioka is a retired high-tech exec who has lived in Redding for four years.
