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Price: $11.49 @ Trader Joe's
Recommended by: a friend who likes petite sirahs
Tasting notes: This petit sirah may be as good as Bogle but costs a few dollars more. It has a bold, dark fruity flavor, with hints of blueberry and raisin. It has some tartness to it, but a smooth finish. We will definitely get this wine again.
Rating: 7.5/10
Price: $14.99 (@ The Wine Gallery)
Recommended by: The Wine Jukebox tasting carousel of happiness
Tasting notes: This is a bright, fruity smooth wine (the winemaker says "an aroma of mixed red berry fruit dominated by strawberries and black currants"). The mixed berries dominate the palate. We only drank one bottle, but we're sure that the third bottle would taste just as smooth and delicious. One of the better pinots we've had.
Rating: 7/10
Price: $12.99 @ Trader Joe's
Recommended by: the price!
Tasting notes: This wine was a wonderful surprise. Amarones usually run over $30, but we found this one at TJ's for under $15. We expected little but were amazed to find so much flavor in this bottle. It has a rich, long taste dominated by raisins, dates, and cherries. The alcohol content is high but not overpowering. We will be getting another bottle of this soon!
Rating: 8/10
(addendum: Quaffability had the best line about this wine: "Despite its complexity, this is definitely a good beginners wine, a good wine for white drinkers looking to go red, and a great seduction wine, though you run the risk of draining the bottle, and maybe another, and going to sleep before anything interesting happens.")
Price: $8.99 @ Wine Gallery
Tasting notes: When we opened the bottle, we thought the wine might be skunky. It certainly has a peculiar, metallic smell. However, the taste was very nice, and the smell seemed to get better as we drank it. It has a sort of pineapple, green apple flavor with a nice acidity. It is not too sweet nor too dry, with a steely crispness. We really enjoyed it with our cioppino seafood dish.
Rating: 6/10
Price: $11.99 @ Trader Joe's
Recommended by: We've loved the Wolf Blass shirazes (both Yellow and Gold Label), so we assumed the riesling would be great, too.
Tasting notes: We were shocked that this wine was not better. It's not terrible, but it has very little to recommend it. It is relatively flat, not sweet, with tastes of lime and lemon. Considering the price, we are not likely to get this wine again. There are much better, lesser expensive rieslings out there.
Rating: 4/10
Price: $9.99 (@ The Wine Gallery)
Recommended by: We're on a quest to try as many Marlborough sauvignon blancs as we can!
Tasting notes: Very citrusy (particularly grapefruit), as expected from this Marlborough wine. It's not as powerful as the Villa Maria, but it is smooth, refreshing, and very enjoyable, much like Matua. The bottle label mentioned tastes of bell pepper in addition to citrus, but we did not notice a pepper flavor.
Rating: 6.5/10
Price: $8.99 @ Trader Joe's
Recommended by: The wine jukebox at The Wine Gallery
Tasting notes: This is a very full-bodied Shiraz. It's surprisingly smooth with bursts of fruit flavor. We will definitely be enjoying this South African wine again.
Rating: 6.5/10
Price: $6.99 @ Trader Joe's
Recommended by: the price!
Tasting notes: This wine is very citrusy as expected in a New Zealand sauvignon blanc, but it isn't as smooth or as tasty as, say, Matua (which is a few $$ more), but it is certainly enjoyable. We're not in a hurry to buy this again.
Rating: 5.5/10
Price: $10.99
Recommended by: The "Wine Jukebox" at the Wine Gallery
Tasting notes: Fruit forward and enjoyable. Hints of cranberry and cherry, but by no means complex. A yummy basic California red, especially with pizza.
Rating: 6/10
Price: $7.99 (Blanchard's)
Recommended by: Wine Gallery (Brookline, MA), and Wine Advocate gave it a 90.
Tasting notes: We have heard that there are some great Spanish reds for affordable prices, and this wine was certainly one of them. Bursts of fruit flavor -- tastes of blackberries, cherries, and chocolate -- and it was much smoother than we thought it would be, with a nice finish. We tasted it with chocolate brownies, and it was a very nice pair! Because of the price, this is definitely a wine that we will purchase again.
Rating: 7/10
Price: $2.99, baby!
Recommended by: The cult following among the Trader Joe's crowd
Drinking notes: We call it "drinking notes" because this is not really a wine to "taste." But what can you say -- it's Two Buck Chuck! And how can you really have a blog for budget wines without reviewing Chuck? Honestly, we were surprised that this wine was enjoyable. It's not a wine that lasts -- it doesn't get better as you drink it -- but for the money it's a good bargain. We have been drinking a lot of New Zealand fruity sauv blancs, so this certainly doesn't have anywhere near the flavor or boldness of those wines, but it's a decent, moderate alternative.
Rating: 6/10
Last night we attended an amarone tasting at Les Zygomates, a French restaurant/wine bar in Boston. We tasted four different amarones, along with delicious duck, steak, and veal appetizers and a very impressive wild mushroom and cheese bruschetta. Amarone is a very full-bodied, high-alcohol, Italian wine, in which the grapes go through a drying process for five months, creating a sweet raisin, before they are pressed.
2001 Santi, Amarone della Valpolicella
This wine was the lightest of the amarones we tried. It wasn't as smooth, bu
t especially when paired with the food it was still very enjoyable. Bright, fruity tastes of cherry and plum and spices (cinnamon and cloves), with a toasted almond finish.
(Retail: ~$25-40)
1998 Tomassi, Amarone della Valpolicella Classico
This was our favorite wine of the evening. Bursts of fruit flavor and some chocolate notes, and it was the smoothest of the four.
This amarone was also a few years older, so the tannens weren't as prevalent. As our sommalier explained, 1998 was a great year from amarone, especially in the Classico region.
(Retail: ~$45-55)
2000 Luigi Righetti, Amarone della Valpolicella Classico
This amarone was not as fruity as the Tomassi and not as enjoyable. It was a b
it more chocolatey and smelled like chicory, and it went well with the food pairing, but overall it did not blow us away like the Tomassi.
(Retail: ~$25)
2000 Tenute Galtarossa, Amarone della Valpolicella
This was our second favorite. It had a nice complexity with a pronounced tobacco flavor. It was very lovely, but in a different way than our first choice, the Tomassi. It might be hard to find. (Retail: ~$35-40)
Price: $12.97 (Blanchard's, Jamaica Plain)
Recommended by: Tasted at Boston Wine Expo
Tasting notes: Big, bold, jam flavors. Smelled of grape jelly and a taste to match. There was also some nice complexity there. However, the grape jelly taste grew overpowering and I couldn't finish the bottle. I would buy this again if I was in the mood for its flavors.
Rating: 6
Price: $13.00 @ The Wine Gallery (Brookline, MA)
Recommended by: the wine jukebox at the wine shop
Tasting notes: This is a very nice red. You can taste the hints of cherry, vanilla, and almonds. It finishes dry but smooth. It's light but does not lack in flavor at all. What a treat! We did not drink it with food, but it is supposed to go well with veal, roasts, pork, pizza, game, duck, and chicken.
Rating: 7.5/10
Price: $8.00
Tasting notes: Not as sweet as, and maybe a bit more acidic than, the Chateau Ste. Michelle, but certainly as joyable. The spice was slightly more pronounced (and we drank it with the exact same meal as the CSM). We will certainly be enjoying more bottles of this in the future.
Rating: 6.5/10
Price: $8.99
Tasting notes: This is a very happy Gewurz. And considering the price you cannot go wrong with it. We drank it with a seafood stew, and it was a great pairing. The stew really brought out the spiciness of the wine. It has the classic grapefruit flavor of Gewurz in abundance, and we look forward to drinking it again soon. (Can you tell we're fans of Gewurz?)
Rating: 7.75/10
Price: $14.99
Tasting notes: Like all late harvests, this Oregon wine was very sweet, but maybe a bit too sweet. It finishes with a nice, classic Gewurz taste, and you can taste the sweet and classic flavors at the same time in the middle. A nice dessert wine.
Rating: 6.5/10
Price: $12.00
Tasting notes: We picked this wine from a sale bin at the local wine shop, so we decided to give it a try. It was a mediocre Pinot. It was better than Rex Goliath, but we're not in a hurry to purchase this Oregon product again. Writer's Block is still our favorite Pinot Noir (review of this wine to come) -- just a few $$ more.
Rating: 5.5/10
Price: $9.99 at Trader Joe's
Recommended by: Patron at the Boston Wine Expo and Oldman's Guide to Outsmarting Wine (see "Recommended Reads" in sidebar)
Tasting notes: Strong flavors of lemon and peaches. It wasn't as smooth as Villa Maria, another Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, but has a great citrusy taste.
Rating: 7/10
Price: $7.99
Recommended by: Wine Enthusiast Top 100 Best Buys of 2005
Tasting notes: A nice wine, but not as edgy as some Gewurz’s. It lacked some of the spicyness and complexity of comparably priced ones. We prefer Columbia Winery or Chateau Ste. Michelle as far as domestic Gewurz's go.
Rating: 5.5/10
Price: $11.49 @ Trader Joe's
Price: $11.99 @ Trader Joe's
Price: $10.99 
t especially when paired with the food it was still very enjoyable. Bright, fruity tastes of cherry and plum and spices (cinnamon and cloves), with a toasted almond finish.
This amarone was also a few years older, so the tannens weren't as prevalent. As our sommalier explained, 1998 was a great year from amarone, especially in the Classico region.
it more chocolatey and smelled like chicory, and it went well with the food pairing, but overall it did not blow us away like the Tomassi. 
Price: $12.97 (Blanchard's, Jamaica Plain)
Price: $13.00 @ The Wine Gallery (Brookline, MA)
Price: $8.00
