Winophilia: Screaming Values

Uncommon red wine bargains from Spain, part two

Josh Raynolds — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 10:08:41 +0000

In the course of my tastings each year of thousands of new wine releases for the International Wine Cellar, I run into plenty of great values. But no other country offers as many as Spain does, or with such consistency. READ MORE »

Uncommon red wine bargains from Spain

Josh Raynolds — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 09:18:28 +0000

For years I've been telling International Wine Cellar subscribers that no country or region on earth can match Spain for red wine values. If anything, I found even more remarkable buys during my annual tastings of new Spanish releases in recent months.

Spain has two key advantages that enable it to produce high-quality red wine across much of the country. First, its mostly warm, dry climate produces consistently ripe grapes, prevents most vine diseases, and normally allows for a dry harvest. Second, large swaths of land are planted to older vines, which yield more concentrated, flavorful wines. Luckily for American wine drinkers, a growing number of American importers are latching onto Spain's potential and now bringing in a variety of wines that deliver astonishing bang for the buck. READ MORE »

Spanish reds from Catalunya and Aragón

Josh Raynolds — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 09:35:12 +0000

If there's any region producing a greater number of outstanding red wine values than Spain's Catalunya (Catalonia) and Aragón right now, I'm unaware of it. I’m reminded of their stunning quality/price rapport every year I conduct my annual tastings of new releases from Spain for my report in the International Wine Cellar (published in the current issue)—all the more so with the excellent 2009 and 2010 vintages on deck. Most of these wines are made from garnacha (grenache) and monastrell (mourvèdre, or mataró), emphasizing intense red and dark berry fruit, velvety texture and serious upfront appeal. In Catalunya a number of other varieties are grown, notably cariñena (carignan) but also cabernet sauvignon, syrah and merlot, among others. READ MORE »

Terrific red wine bargains from Australia

Josh Raynolds — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 10:15:27 +0000

As the outsized, fruit-bomb style of Australian red wine continues to fall from favor with American wine lovers, an unfortunate side-effect is that many consumers are lumping all Australian red wines into that category. This is ironic because prior to the late 1990s, few wines in the too-much-ain’t-enough style were available here at all. In fact, back then Australia was viewed as a bountiful source of suave, structured wines made mostly in a Bordeaux mold rather than as late-harvest zinfandel or Port substitutes, as many people consider them today. READ MORE »

Rosés from France

Josh Raynolds — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 10:15:20 +0000

Even with a lousy exchange rate I found many outstanding values among the hundred-plus French pink wines that I tasted this spring and summer for the International Wine Cellar's annual rosé report. What struck me in particular this year was the consistent quality of these wines. As demand for rosé has clicked up in recent years, producers have responded by taking the category more seriously, to the obvious benefit of wine drinkers. READ MORE »

Steals in Chilean Cabernet

Josh Raynolds — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 09:58:55 +0000

Back in the bad old days, around a decade ago, most of Chile's cabernet sauvignon-based wines were best known for being cheap. There's no question that Chile has the climate, soil, winemaking know-how and capital to make serious wines, but the industry, as a rule, tended to play it safe until just a few years ago. More emphasis was placed on making mass-market wines than bottles with real character, much less regional identity. And even the best wines tended to incite shrugs of indifference from demanding, spoiled-for-choice American buyers who had easy access to wines from Bordeaux, California, Washington and Australia. READ MORE »

Stunning California bargains from Cameron Hughes

Stephen Tanzer — Thu, 19 May 2011 10:13:45 +0000

In the course of my exhaustive tastings this spring of new wines from California, I’ve been thrilled to bring a few really good ones to your attention that are priced in the moderate $20 to $25 range. And there will be more to come. To a jaded drinker such as myself, finding characterful California wine at this price level is rare, especially considering that I enjoy easy access to varietally accurate, complex and concentrated wine from Southern France, Italy, South Africa, Argentina and elsewhere. READ MORE »

South African syrah bargains by any name

Stephen Tanzer — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 10:18:51 +0000

By all accounts, syrah remains tricky to sell—first because there’s not enough intense, vibrant, varietally expressive wine available in the market for less than twenty bucks. Another problem is that this dark-skinned variety comes in a range of styles, and the typical consumer is not normally willing to make a serious financial investment in a bottle of wine that might as well be labeled with a question mark. READ MORE »

South Africa’s chenin blancs

Stephen Tanzer — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 09:46:59 +0000

Chenin blanc, an unusually versatile white grape native to France’s Loire Valley, produces everything from bone-dry sparkling and still wines to outrageously sweet and unctuous dessert versions from late-picked grapes rich in noble rot. What most Loire Valley versions have in common, besides notes of flowers, honey, minerals and damp straw, is penetrating acidity: these rigorous, bracing wines are typically tough going in their youth but age at a leisurely pace. READ MORE »

Chilean sauvignon blanc to the rescue

Josh Raynolds — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 09:25:15 +0000

The good news for sauvignon blanc lovers who have watched many of their favorite New Zealand bottlings shoot up in price is that Chile has proven to be a more than adequate antidote for their sticker shock. Chile benefits from numerous cool regions that are ideal for producing sauvignon blanc, and a growing number of excellent renditions of the variety are now entering the U.S. market, almost all of them at absurdly low prices for their quality. Perhaps no country on earth is producing a greater number of bang-for-the-buck white wines than Chile is right now, and most of the wines I’m thinking of are sauvignon blancs. READ MORE »