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Price: $8.99 @ Trader Joe's
Recommended by: Loosen's reputation
Comments: This riesling is a really nice everyday German wine. We were surprised by the fruitiness, with hints of pear, lime, and lemon, and a really nice, zippy, sweet finish. For the price, you cannot go wrong; plus, it's really easy to find since it's one of the more popular affordable rieslings.
Rating: 6.5/10
Price: $15.99
Recommended by: Food and Wine magazine?
Comments: This is a special Sauvignon Blanc. From Groth and Hess, we've learned how good Napa Sauvignon Blancs can be, but this may be our favorite so far. The wine has strong flavors of grapefruit and lime with hints of kiwi. The taste is long and delicious, and we look forward to having it again. Right now, it is our favorite Sauvignon Blanc. Its flavor reminds us a bit of Matua, and it may be better (although it also costs a few dollars more).
Rating: 7.5/10
Price: $13.00 @ Blanchard's
Recommended by: Abe, the wine guy
Comments: We were about to pick up another bottle of the Santi Solane ripasso, when Abe, the wine guy recommended that we try this one instead. Thanks, Abe! You da man! This Italian red is delicious in every way that the Santi is, and it might be even better. The black cherry flavor is big, and the taste lingers. We will definitely be getting this one again!
Rating: 7.5/10
Price: $10.99 @ Blanchard's
Recommended by: wine dude at store
Comments: We enjoyed this South African wine, but found ourselves hard pressed to adequately describe it here. So, we went online to see what other people said about it. We quickly found a few reviews, but it turned out that they all said the same thing. EXACTLY the same thing. What a bunch of plagiarists! To show our disgust, we're going to reproduce exactly what they say. This wine is "a delightfully elegant and restrained wine with long flavors of citrus and pear, a bit of mineral and a slightly herbal lemon-butter finish." Well, not exactly. We tasted a bit of pear and it certainly had a mineral element and some butter and spiciness in the finish. But there was little lemon and just a hint of citrus. We also tasted some grassiness. It was a light, enjoyable wine, but we lean toward those in-yer-face New Zealand and Napa Sauvignon Blancs. This wine was different and we enjoyed it. If you find the Matua or Villa Maria overpowering, this one might be just the summer wine for you! (Oh, and some of the profits go towards saving the whales -- just another reason to buy it!)
Rating: 6.5/10
Price: ~$15.00
Recommended by: wine seller at Wine & Spirits in Hingham
Comments: We had this wine a few years ago, and we liked it so much that we bought another bottle and saved it. Tonight, after another chapter of Rob's book has been written, we opened it, wondering whether we would like it as much as we did when we first tried it. We were not disappointed. The wine opens with a burst of cherry and raspberry flavors, along with hints of cinnamon, and the yummy flavor lingers long after you take your initial sip. This is a fantastic, complex wine and our favorite pinot noir to date. It is a bit hard to find, unfortunately. (The photo says syrah -- we could not find a photo of the pinot.)
Rating: 8.5/10
Price: $9.99 @ Trader Joe's
Recommended by: don't remember
Comments: We've had this Marlborough wine several times. We haven't rated it because we like it so much and know we won't forget it. But we'd like to share it with others. Here's the scoop -- buy this wine! It's just as good as Villa Maria (maybe better), but instead of a fierce grassy, lemon flavor it's more of a grapefruit taste. It's particularly great with ... sushi!
Rating: 7.75/10
Price: $13.99 (Downeast Beverage Co., Portland, Maine)
Recommended by: wine chick at Downeast Beverage
Comments: This wine came highly recommended for a California pinot, even though the wine chick preferred Oregon/Washington pinots. It has a nice cherry and cranberry flavor with a tart, peppery finish. We found it decent but not exceptional. We haven't had many pinots, so we don't have much with which to compare it. One site recommended to pair it with an appetizer of pate & smoked salmon, with broiled portobello mushrooms with garlic. Maybe we should try that next time!
Rating: 6.25/10
Price: $7.99 (in Portland, Maine)
Recommended by: wine shop owner who specialized in Spanish wines
Comments: To the crazy, overly friendly wine shop dude in Portland (he even gave us a free bottle), thank you for introducing us to this wine! We don't know anything about grenaches, and very little about Spanish wines in general, but after this one, we want to try more! This is a tasty, tasty wine. Bursting with flavors of black cherry and raspberry, followed by a peppery finish, this wine is a mouthful of happiness. With the price under $10, we want to go out and buy a few more bottles. Now. (But we'll wait till the effects of this 14% alcohol wine wear off a bit.)
Rating: 7.5/10
Price: $9.59 @ Trader Joe's
Recommended by: one of Wine Spectator's 100 Best Buys of 2005
Comments: In our quest to discover great domestic sauvignon blancs, next up is Kenwood (Sonoma). It's a solid "savon blanc" (that was for you, bro!). It is quite lemony with a little bit of grassiness and a smooth, oaky finish. The flavor won't knock you out like a Matua, but we would enjoy drinking this again, and it's fairly easy to find.
Rating: 6.75/10
Price: $7.99
Recommended by: nice lady in Portland, Maine, who has had several bottles.
Comments: Well, we just got back from Portland with 6 new bottles in tow. We're not going to bother reviewing the mediocre merlot we had last night (so mediocre that we don't even remember the name). However, this Spanish (La Mancha) red is muy bueno! It's got a great, happy, fruity flavor -- with raspberry dominating -- and nice hints of pepper. It also has a nice, smooth finish, which we think distinguishes it from Wolf Blass Yellow Label Shiraz (Australia).
Rating: 7/10
Price: $10.00
Recommended by: the price
Tasting notes: None, really. It was unimpressive for a Marlborough, which usually contains a burst of fruitiness.
Rating: 5/10
Price: $11.99 @ Wine Gallery
Tasting notes: This Spanish (Navarra) red is a helluva wine for the price. It is 60% merlot and 40% cabernet sauvignon, and it is a really tasty, fruity wine. It has hints of blackberry, blueberry, and cherry, with a remarkable complexity. We will definitely be enjoying this wine again.
Rating: 7.5/10
Price: $17.99 @ Blanchards (J.P.)
Recommended by: oenophile relatives in California
Tasting notes: This Napa wine was really refreshing on a hot, summer evening. It surprisingly competes with the great Marlborough sauvignon blancs that we've tried. It has notes of lemon, pineapple, and green apple and has a long, delicious finish. It is a bit expensive, but certainly worth it! We look forward to trying other Groth wines (the cabernet has been highly recommended to us as well).
Rating: 7.75/10
Price: $9.99
Recommended by: a magazine (cannot remember which one)
Tasting notes: Not very fruity like a Marlborough. Tastes a bit like Chardonnay. Nuff said.
Rating: 4/10
Price: $7.99
Recommended by: staff at wine store in Hingham
Tasting notes: This wine makes us smile. Bright with flavors of cherry, blueberry, and plum, it is very light but rich in flavor. Its price and yumminess guarantee that we will be getting it again soon.
Rating: 7.25/10
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: $8.99 @ Trader Joe's
