Category Archives: Great Wines under $20

Wine Blogging Wednesday #70: Wine from Spain for 2/16/11

After a hiatus, Wine Blogging Wednesday is going again with a theme of wine from Spain as hosted by Ryan and Gabriella Opaz of the award winning blog catavino.net. The prompt:

  • Choose a Spanish wine or wines to taste on Wednesday the 16th of February.
  • Seek out Spanish wines that you’ve never had before! Get creative! Hunt for unique styles such as a Sherry, Cava, Fondillon or Mistella; an unheard of region like Arribes, Txakoli de Alava or Extremadura; or a unique native grape like Prieto Picudo or Treixadura.
  • Write a post about the wine, flushing it out with life and subtle detail, then publish it on Wednesday, February 16th.
  • Tweet about it with the tag: #WBW70 thus creating a live tasting by time zone as we go around the globe!
  • Finally, send an email to us with a link to your article and include the subject line: “WBW #70 Submission

I’m already in the swim of Spanish wine as I’ve been working on my guest blog for the Secret Sherry Society, published today on their site! So follow my lead and do sherry or go for a distinctly Spanish varietal or style: with Valentine’s Day coming up a sparkling cava would be fun and they’re a great value too. Or do something different: some Spanish wineries are working to capture part of the American market by growing and making familiar wines like cabernet sauvignon and chardonnay to American palates at affordable prices.

Part 1: Global #Zinfandel Day = Zin-tastic!

So how did I spend the 24 hours of Global #Zinfandel Day?

Reveling in Zin of course! I tasted 4 zins: The Big Green Box Old Vine Zin, Four Vines Old Vine Cuvee 2007, Glaymond Barossa Valley 2003, and Bianchi Zen Ranch 2007. This post discusses the first two wines, and in a second post I’ll write about Bianchi and Glaymond.

To celebrate Global #Zinfandel Day Friday Nov. 19,  I started in on zin on Thursday with a Four Vines 2007 Old Vine Cuvee which I picked up at The Ventura Wine Company for $11.

I admit, the Old Vine Zin Cuvee wasn’t the wine I wanted from Four Vines. Last year, I’d gone in to buy  another bottle of the Biker ($20 at VWC, $28 from the Winery) which Wine Spectator placed in the Top 100 of last year’s releases. The Biker was a fantastic example of zinfandel, Continue reading →

In The Big Green Box, Good Old Vine Zin!

Last weekend, for my son’s 7th birthday, we invited everyone he and we could think of to join us at Sycamore Cove State Beach campground for a camp out and birthday party.

So what wine did I bring to go along with bugs and hot dogs?

You might be surprised to discover I brought Pepperwood Grove Old Vine Zinfandel–a wine in a box.

Now before you turn up your nose, hear me out.

We do a LOT of camping. We go to Burning Man. We gather with friends for BBQs at the beach. We go off road for hours and hours on end to get to a remote campsite or hot spring. We are SERIOUS campers.

And I am serious about wine as well–even when I’m camping! After all, that’s when we really eat well and we have time to relax and enjoy ourselves, the view, the evening air…For proof, Continue reading →

Wine Predator Releases Poetry Collection “Middle of the Night”

Tonight we celebrated the release of my new poetry collection, Middle of the Night Poems from Daughter to Mother :: Mother to Son from en theos press–and we chose champagne, of course!

Actually, Grandin, to be precise, is a French sparkler NOT from Champagne but from the Loire Valley.  I picked up at a tasting at a local restaurant featuring wines from the Henry Group and others. I paid around $20 for it and found it a refreshing change from the typical supermarket sparklers which most of us more commonly enjoy. It offers fine bubbles and lots of complexity–not sweet or fruity, but nutty (almond and hazelnut) with lots of acid (lime? lemon?), spice, and yeast.

We had the Grandin with a dinner of fresh shrimp right off the boat, simply prepared in butter and garlic, with pasta, and I have to admit that it was gone before I realized I lacked sufficient wine notes to say much about it except that, given the opportunity, I would absolutely buy it again.

Read more about Middle of the Night Poems from Daughter to Mother :: Mother to Son from en theos press, the poetry collection we were celebrating, below. By the way, this is NOT a collection of poetry about wine…but poetry by someone who LOVES wine!

New Poetry Book Arrives! Just in time for the Women’s Conference in Long Beach on Monday, I have 108 signed limited edition copies of my new poetry book, Middle of the Night Poems From Daughter to Mother :: Mother to Son (en theos press). I also put my “chop” on it: a special jade stamp the traditional red wax with my name in Chinese. The signed limited edition published for the Women’s Conference will be available at the Devone Designs Perfect Fit Jewelry display in the … Read More

via The Write Alley

Wine Weds: Frei Brothers Sustainably Grown Syrah, Cab, Sauv Blanc, Chard

It seems to me that if a winery donates wine for an event, the wine should be respected: served in wine glasses by someone who knows a bit about the wine, and with information about the wine available.

So when Frei Brothers donated several cases of wine to me to use at various arts, cultural, and environmental events, I spent some time becoming familiar with the wine and producing materials for a display on the table for those interested in learning more. I would also be pouring the wine.

The following are some of those materials that I developed for the VCCOOL Benefit Concert August 28 and for the Art City First Fridays Open House and ArtRide after party. My information came from materials Frei Brothers sent, from their website, from my tasting notes, and from fellow blogger Rob Bralow in this blog post by which includes an interview with Frei Brothers Chief Viticulturist Jim Collins discussing specifics. Continue reading →

Thanks to Frei Brothers for Wine Donation to VCCOOL Benefit Concert 8/28 & more!

When I heard about the benefit concert for VCCool Saturday, August 28th at Zanzilla (2750 East Main Street, Ventura), I offered to contact Frei Brothers Winery to see whether they would donate wine for the event.

Why Frei Brothers? Because VCCool works on issues of sustainablity for people and planet, including bicycle safety, local food policy, natural building, sustainable community planning, and so much more. VCCOOL is a global warming or climate change activist group. They promote ways to reduce your carbon footprint and they organize events like the bike rodeo. VCCOOL Members live consciously and purchase food, wine and products that are produced  sustainably. The VCCOOL fund raising concert will offer traditional, old time good time music and room to dance for $20. Members are making treats and there will be non-alcoholic drinks as well as wine pours for $5 each from Frei Brothers.

And so why Frei Brothers? Because at the Wine Blogger’s Conference 2009 in Santa Rosa CA, I tasted the Frei Brothers syrah (yum!) and learned about their pro-environment policies. For a rather large organization (200,000 cases), Frei is trying its best to be good to the land that the brothers have been responsible for for for over 100 years.

Frei Brothers is driven by an “overriding principle to conduct business in a manner that will protect and preserve the environment.” This includes exceeding government regulations and setting aside an acre of land for every one planted with vines to protect the natural environment in which indigenous animals live. This blog post by Rob Bralow includes an interview with Chief Viticulturist Jim Collins discussing specifics. Not to mention that Frei makes great wine; just to make sure, I tested out a glass of the chardonnay last night–nice and balanced, it will be a pleaser today chilled down!

So enjoy Frei Brothers Reserve Wine while mingling with friends new and old, and getting down with the music of: The Jug or Nots (jug band), the Rachel Morris Little Big Band ( original works including “Earth Day” and “White Trash Boy”), and Mule Skynner (classic rock). The VCCool Benefit concert is held in yoga studio of Zan Ferris who graciously donated her gorgeous space for this event. This hidden oasis and the music too, can be found below Smart and Final off Main. Directions

Frei Brothers generously donated four cases (two syrah, one chardonnay, and one cabernet) so there will wine for an upcoming pro-arts and cycling event also Sept 3 at Art City. Thank You Frei Brothers, for doing right by the land and for your donation!

(Look for a response to the wines soon!)

Wine Blogging Weds #67: Some Red Wines for the White Wine Lover

For the March rendition of Wine Blogging Wednesday, host Joe Roberts, @1WineDude, prompts us to find a red wine for the white wine drinker. Immediately, my mind went to an Australian sparkling shiraz, like Paringa: fun, bubbly, inexpensive, yet tasty. But no, Joe says which STILL red wine would you choose.

Since I am competing in the WBC-or-Bust campaign to get one of 12 spots on the bus to travel around Washington wine regions before and after this year’s Wine Bloggers conference in Walla Walla, a Washington red seemed an obvious choice. And since the following day is a Washington merlot Twitter tasting, the varietal and the region seemed clear-cut–I could get more bang from my buck!

Since there isn’t a lot to choose from around here, I asked the Wine Guy at Trader Joes, (who also blogs) which wine he would recommend. He suggested the 2007 Red Diamond which he felt was an excellent choice of a red wine for a white wine drinker. Bonus, it’s a Washington merlot AND a great value he said.

So I knew a Red Diamond merlot would be one wine I’d be tasting. But what else, I wondered.

Which got me wondering about the prompt itself: who is this mythical white wine drinker? What white wines do they like? Why don’t they drink red wines?

In real life, given this challenge, I would base my recommendation on what I knew or learned about the person. Then, I would base my decision on what was the occasion and what food was being served.

What food screams red wine to me? What food really elevates the experience of the wine–and vice versa? Which food demands red wine? STEAK!

I immediately imagined the scenario of the red wine drinker and the white wine drinker at a steak house trying to agree on a bottle of wine and settling on wines by the glass. If that mythical white wine drinker sticks to his or her white wine allegiance, he or she is missing out.

What else to try for this challenge was determined by the generosity of Shane Gelinas of the Gelinas Wine Group. Yesterday I had the good fortune of attending an industry tasting of Gelinas wines as well as wines from the Truman Wine Company. When the tasting was over, I asked Shane if I could take some wine home with me–especially wines that I didn’t get a chance to taste (because I spend too much time talking with winemakers!!). He told me to take what interested me that was open so I picked up two reds (a Folkway Cab which I hadn’t had a chance to taste and was VERY anxious to, a 2006 Latria Spanish grenache carinene blend, a 2007 Groundwork grenache I adored, and I was offered two whites which I had tasted and liked a lot.

Now that I had for wines for WBW#67,  the question was: what should I pair them with for dinner?

No surprise here: I picked up a ribeye steak for myself, and a chicken breast for my spouse which we prepared with pesto and oyster mushrooms, plus mushroom risotto and green salad on the side. (He’s recovering from a traumatic bicycle accident where he broke his C2; only yesterday was he permitted by his doctor to take his neck brace off. His “chew” muscles are still getting strong enough for a steak, even a tender rib-eye!).

First off,  we (my friend Dave, my husband and myself) tasted the 2007 Red Diamond Merlot, under $10 out the door from Trader Joe’s. We didn’t like the nose when I first opened the bottle–a little strange and funky with an alcoholic chaser. In the glass, the color was nice with some depth. There was a surprising richness to the wine, almost syrah like, with plum and cherry, but no cola. It had a bright, clean finish, and for how much fruit character it showed, it was also nicely balanced.

This Red Diamond merlot wine would be a great choice for a white wine drinker. And if he or she didn’t like it, you’re not out a lot of money. We were very happy with this wine at this price.

Second up, we dove into a 2006 Latria Montsant red blend of 50% Garnacha and 50% Carinena. According to the bottle, Montsant is a region of northeast Spain in the province of Catalonia and these grapes are from a high elevation vineyard, about 1500′.

We really really liked this wine but agreed it would not be a go to wine for the typical American white wine drinker.

It was really pretty in the glass, and an overhwlming nose that made me want to swoon! David described it as “truffley.” The balance between fruit and spice and acids and tannins makes this a great wine for tapas or a meal of just about anything. However, we suspected that the minerality and tannins would put off most white wine drinkers–unless they like super minerally whites! This would be a good choice for a white wine drinker who prefers wines in a more European style while others would turn up their noses. We were surprised and impressed by its nice long finish. Great wine for only $12 at B & L; usually it’s around $15 which is still a marvelous value.

Third in line, we poured the Groundwork 2007 Grenache from Sans Liege. Jane and I loved this wine at Tuesday’s tasting and I loved it again today. It was excellent with my steak as well as my husband’s pesto mushroom chicken. It was beautiful all around–in the nose, the mouth, the soul. We all three loved this wine. The alcohol is a stunning 15.3%  but because it was so well balanced (and not at 70 degree room temp but about 60) it didn’t taste hot. It was very complex with floral, fruit and earth flavors including cherry, truffle, and caramel as well as spice; somewhat like a carnation.

It danced on our tongues–our enthusiasm alone would convince a white wine drinker to give it a whirl across the dance floor of a palate.

I assume this is not a cheap date but wow, is it great! This wine would make a grenache believer out of just about anyone.

DING DING DING! I just heard from Curt, winemaker at Groundwork that this wine retails for only $19! This is a screaming deal! FInd some, buy some, serve it to a white wine drinker and tell me how it goes! (Or just enjoy it yourself!)

Fourth and finally, we experienced Folkway’s Black Ridge Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon. This is an absolutely beautiful wine in every way imaginable.

How could a white wine drinker not fall in love this wine–and with the person who shares it? As David put it, “You don’t need a Ph.D to figure out and enjoy this rom-com of a cabernet.”

Not to say that this wouldn’t satisfy a more sophisticated red wine drinker because it certainly would! With plenty of blackberry and cherry fruit lively acids bringing it into balance, and a long savory finish, this cabernet is a steal at $36. It was supple, satisfying, pleasing–euphoria in a glass, and a knockout with my steak.

At the tasting, I talked at length with one of the brothers, Lino Bozzano, who is producing this wine and I look forward to visiting their winery and writing more about them! BUt for now, this post is clocking in at over 1200 words so that, my friends, brings this month’s Wine Blogging Wednesday to a triumphant close: three winners for the white one drinker, and four winners for red wine drinkers!