Just in time for the weekend, I'm starting a new feature called Wine Finds, which is where I tell you about a delicious wine for under $10.
First off, I know the pictures are a little lame. I'm not a photographer, obviously. But I'll work on the presentation. That still life with daffodils wasn't quite what I'd envisioned.
I've also never taken a wine class, and I don't have a wine vocabulary, you can get all that from a real wine blog (with a lot nicer photos!)
My purpose is to tell you how to get a great bottle of wine on a budget. THAT'S why I've been trying out almost every bottle of wine available at Trader Joe's, World Market, Costco, and BevMo for the past several years. To pass along my knowledge to you, my readers. NOT because I'm a wino.
But I AM a frugalista, because here's the Oxford University Press definition:"a person who leads a frugal lifestyle, but stays fashionable and healthy by swapping clothes, buying second-hand, growing own produce, etc."
Well, maybe not that part about the produce, but anyway, I love this post by The Frugalista herself, Natalie McNeal, when she says, "The only thing I would have added to the definition was that frugalistas enjoy good AND cheap wine! I kid! I kid!"
Well, I'm not kidding- good, cheap wine is one of my favorite things (cue soundtrack to either "The Sound of Music" or John Coltrane's "My Favorite Things" depending on your taste and mood) and it beats brown paper packages tied up in string. Well, those are good too, but you get my point.
This Castoro Cellars 2006 Syrah wins the honor of my first Wine Find because it's consistently delicious, appeals to all tastes, and comes in right under the limit at $9.99. It's available at Trader Joes, which I hope you have in your neighborhood.
Please share your favorite under $10 wines or let me know if you try this one in the Comments section.
8 comments:
Angela I am not a wine drinker BUT I found a wine recently that i LOVE. It's called FUKI Plum Wine and it's $10 a bottle. If you like something sweet, refreshing and light try it! I like it in a big wine glass with ice.
Delicious!AND the bottle is a gorgeous deep green. Perfect for daffodils cut from my yard!
A favorite good, cheap wine for me has always been the Rosemount Estates blends. They used to be available at Trader Joe's but are harder and harder to find.
As I'm currently preggers, there are many an evening that I crave a little quiet, a decent meal AND A GLASS OF WINE! I know, I know, I could, but my husband is just not that hip to it.
So a couple more months and I will be oh so happy to try some of your recommendations!
alunachic-
I have a soft spot for plum wine, because it was the first wine I ever tasted and loved. I used to drink it when my dad would take me for my birthday dinner at Benihana's.
calimama-
Congratulations! Yes, I know Europeans are a little more lax about the glass of wine or beer when pregnant, but there's nothing wrong with the "better safe than sorry" philosophy at such an important time. I have to confess I've never been pregnant, but used to wonder how I'd do going without wine- I love it so much.
But you'll be able to enjoy a nice glass before you know it... and until then, stay healthy.
OK, so...how much wine is too much? Those $10 bottles can add up. What's anyone's average consumption here? I'm not telling first!
Ha! I had to cut back to... about 2-3 bottles a week? It's embarrassing! I love wine, but the wine habit is expensive! A friend of mine who loves wine told me they only open a bottle a month.
But this is why we generally only spend $5-6 actually, most of the time. Which is possible in California- one of the things I love about living here!
OK...here's what I do to try to keep my alcohol consumption balanced and, hopefully, DOWN. I alternate between wine and beer. When it's a beer night (Guinness is the best for me), I can stop at one bottle. It seems a good stopping place. However, when it's wine, I often have half the bottle. So, three and a half evenings per week, at half a bottle per evening amounts to nearly two bottles per week, and that's just for ME. I like red (lately I like "old vine" zinfandel), and spouse likes white, so he has a different system. I think he only has about a bottle per week, and he doesn't do beer that often.
$10 for a wine is a bit pricey for me, because I’m so spoilt living in one of the world’s best wine regions (Western Australia – Margaret River wine region and Swan Valley wine region). Due to the high volumes produced in recent years prices here have been driven down, and most wine I like would be under $10, but my absolute favourite at the moment is a white cleanskin I bought direct from the cellar door that was $60 for the case! That’s $5 a bottle. (With our exchange rates at the moment $AUS5 = $US3.87).
Some people think my taste in wine is cheap and horrible – but that’s actually my favourite. I’ve tried plenty of expensive wines and champagnes (love going on wine tours etc) and I never like them!
http://www.shademountainwinery.com/
Pretty much anything at Shade Mountain Winery is fantastic, but I am a huge fan of their Bad Moose Mead, a honey based mead that comes in at $9.99
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