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Price: $10.99
Recommended by: manager's selection at Macy's Liquors (W. Roxbury, MA)
Comments: We usually drink Sauvignon Blancs from New Zealand (and some from Napa) and love them, but this wine will force us to think about other regions. Petit Bourgeois is a bright, tangy wine that has no shortage of flavor, yet finishes very smooth. Flavors of pineapple loom large along with a pleasant, forward grassiness. It was a great complement to our yummy veggie sandwiches on a hot summer day. Not our favorite, but we would buy this again.
Rating: 7.5/10
Price: $11.99 @ Blanchard's (Jamaica Plain, MA)
Recommended by: sucked in by store advertising
Comments: We totally shouldn't have opened a second bottle of wine tonight. And yet, we're so glad we did! We so rarely drink old world wine, and yet this one is really good, and a fantastic deal for the money. We found strong flavors of plum along with chocolate and black cherry, and perhaps a hint of black licorice at the end. The wine consists of 70% Merlot and the rest is Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon. The finish is quite long and smooth. We've never been happier to succumb to good advertising!
Rating: 7.75/10
Price: $8.99
Recommended by: wine seller at the Wine and Cheese Cask (Somerville, MA)
Comments: Zut alors! This wine is tres mal! But what should we expect from a French wine under $10? It is fruit-forward with strawberry and plum tastes, and a bit of pepper spice, but there is no finish at all. (This wine is a blend of 60% Carignan, 30% Syrah and 10% Grenache.) We will definitely not be partaking of this wine again. If you want a decent red blend under $10, make a run for Espania!
Rating: 5/10
Price: $9.00 @ Solera (Roslindale)
Recommended by: Boston Globe
Comments: We enjoyed this wine, but it is very different from the New World wines we typically drink. It is an organic red blend (35% Syrah, 25% Grenache, 25% Carignan, 10% Cinsault, 5% Alicante, and 70% of the fruit is hand picked) with a nice fruit flavor (mostly strawberry) but it's not overpowering. Its earthy flavor, spicy opening, and dry finish are what make this wine distinct from other fruity reds we've tried. We suspect this wine would be wonderful with a few years' aging.
Rating: 6.5/10
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: $7.99
Tasting notes: Admittedly attracted to the cute label and the ubiquitous ads that made us thirsty, this syrah has a very nice fruit smell and good taste, but it's a bit acidic. We didn’t like it as much as Wolf Blass, which is only $1 more.
Rating: 6/10
Price: $15.00
Tasting notes: This was the first Alsacian Gewurz that we've tried. It is well-balanced – not too sweet with some spice – but we don’t know whether it’s worth the extra $$. We would probably grab a bottle of Chateau Ste. Michelle or Columbia Winery Gewurz before we would buy this again.
Rating: 6/10