Posts Tagged ‘red table wine’
Varietal: Malbec
Region: Mendoza – Argentina
Cost: $9
Winemaker’s Notes: Full-bodied and smooth with intense black fruit flavors and aromas. A good pairing with grilled foods including steaks.
My Review: I have this habit of picking up steaks and red wine whenever my wife is gone for the evening and I’m feeding myself. This past Thursday was just one of those nights and given the unseasonably warm weather we’ve been having here in Virginia I decided to take advantage of being able to use my grill and grabbed a steak at my local Fresh Market. While there I browsed the wine aisle to see if anything caught my eye and was recommended with a steak and decided on this bottle of 2010 Dos Lomos Malbec, in no small part because of the unique bottle shape.
Varietal: Pinot Noir
Region: California – USA
Cost: Approx $10
Winemaker’s Notes: Rich earthiness and bold robust flavors. Pairs well with full-flavored hearty meats, stews, and soups paired with rustic bread.
My Review: You ever have one of those moments when you see a bottle of wine on your rack and have absolutely no idea where it came from? I had that moment last night with my wife when we were trying to decide which bottle of wine to open up with some chili we had made for dinner. I had no memory of the wine being purchased, was confident it wasn’t a sample that had been sent to me, and didn’t remember anybody bringing it over during one of our holiday parties, and it wasn’t until I sat down to write this review that I realized where it came from – my wife and I did buy it at a local store that was offering a free tasting. This is what age does to you.
Varietal: Carmenere
Region: Chile – Curico Valley
Cost: $8
Winemaker’s Notes: Dark garnet color or great intensity with an aroma of generous ripe red fruit and merged peppers with toasted French oak. A silky, flavorful mouth feel, creamy with great volume. Firm tannins provide an enjoyable finish. Best paired with light hors d’oeuvres and pastas.
My Review: My wife and I are always on the lookout for inexpensive wines that may not excite or inspire us, but are easy to sip on and are more interesting than cheap merlot or cabernet sauvignon from California, Australia, or New Zealand. Chile has become a favored region to get affordable wines that mix it up ever so much. When a friend recently brought over a bottle of Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon that he had picked up and we enjoyed it we decided to pick some up at the store the next time we went. They were out of the Cab Sauv, but had a healthy supply of the Carmenere that we decided to give a try to.
Odds are pretty good that while in your wine shop you’ve seen wine labeled as table wine. What does that mean though? Is it a generic term or are there requirements? What’s a good use of table wines and how do you pick one out? Can things not labeled as “table wine” be used for the purpose?
What Is Table Wine?
Depending on where you live table wine can mean a lot of different things. Here in the United States it’s a wine made from grapes with a maximum alcohol by volume content of 14%. Other than that there’s not much that determines what is or isn’t a table wine and it’s somewhat left up to the vineyard or winery to determine whether or not they want to label their wine as a table wine.
In Europe the standards are a bit more stringent with different categories of table wine existing within the overall “table wine” genre.
Varietal: 100% Cabernet Sauvignon
Region: Central Coast – California – USA
Cost: $12 (SRP)
Winemaker’s Notes: With its maritime influence, California’s Central Coast region has an extended growing season that yields wines with full flavor development and great acid balance. Mandolin Cabernet Sauvignon has rich layers of currant and cherry fruit, framed by nicely integrated oak.
My Review: I know when a lot of people think of inexpensive California Cabernet they think of light, fruit-forward wines that are great when you’re just getting into red wine, but that later you find less enjoyable, preferring something with some body on it. I know this because I have those moments myself. This was not one of those moments.
Varietal: Tempranillo
Region: Spain
Cost: $4
Dark garnet in color with aromas of berry and dark cherry. On the palate, dark cherry, spice, and bittersweet chocolate. Pairs well with grilled lamb, olives, and rich cheeses.
Recommendations: So I don’t remember where or when, but somewhere, on some blog or website, I had read about the Lucky Duck line of wines. Unfortunately I don’t remember what that blog/article/website said. So, when I came across the wines at my local Wal-Mart while poking around after buying new glasses (the eye kind, not the drinking kind), I knew that I was familiar with the wine’s name, but not much else. However, since I’m always looking for something new to try, I grabbed some.
The wine itself was a dark garnet color in the glass, and the aromas of dark cherry were pretty in your face. That cherry and some berry carried into the palate in what was a very bright, fruit forward wine, but also very clearly a Tempranillo. With a dinner of beef stew that the wife had been cooking all day it was a nice bright note against the heartiness of the meal. Read the rest of this entry »
