Dollars and wine sense
Last week we talked about what makes a $40 Rioja worth the toll. Today’s let’s flip the script and ask how to guess if an $8 Rhône is worth drinking.
This is not a new topic for me, as regular readers will know. Over all my years writing about wine, I’ve consistently focused on finding wines of good quality and value – wines that taste more expensive than they actually are.
Have you had any luck finding quality wines for less than $10?
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Accordingly, $40-plus, ageworthy items like the “Viña Ardanza” Rioja Reserva featured last week, are few and far between, and I have to limit them to our paid-tier edition, where subscription fees help cover the cost of higher-end wines for those reviews.
Which brings us back to this week’s topic: In a world where wine-shop shelves are loaded with inexpensive bottles of wine, how can we pick out the occasional treat from the ranks of probably technically correct but entirely forgettable wines? I’m talking about wines that retail for $10 and under, a cutoff point that has gradually doubled since this publication started in 1999.
Technically, given modern vineyard and wine making technology, and the nature of the marketplace, it is entirely possible to make drinkable wine at that price point. You don’t need grapes from sought-after vineyards, and you don’t need difficult interventions in the process. In modern times, it’s probably easier to make cheap, forgettable wine than to make the kind of nasty, vinegary and sulfurous potions that were more commonplace a few generations ago.
But we don’t want cheap, forgettable wine. How can we narrow our search? For a more detailed instruction, check out my Jan. 13, 2023 column, “Frogs and princesses: Finding good cheap wine.
Wine on sale! Discount wine! It’s everywhere! (Image from Peter’s Discount Liquor, Syracuse, N.Y.)
To sum it up, though, I offered four specific suggestions:
• First, narrow your search. Where have you found reliably good value wines before? For me, that’s the Southern Rhône, Provence, and Languedoc-Roussillon in France; and from Italy, Toscana wine from Tuscany and Montepulciano d’Abruzzo.
• Consider more affordable alternatives. Research Cabernet Sauvignon from Chile if classified Bordeaux is out of your reach,
• Ask a friend. Check in with wine-loving friends, at home or work, on social media or wine forums like our WineLovers Discussion Group. There aren’t many wine lovers who don’t enjoy sharing tips on great bargains. Take advantage of the buzz!
• Ask a friendly wine merchant. Identify the good, locally owned and operated wine merchants in your neighborhood or town and get to know the owner. Most of these folks are in the business because they love wine and enjoy talking about it. Mine their knowledge, in reasonable confidence that they’d rather have you as a happy customer than lose you with poor advice.
This week’s featured wine, Boutinot 2021 Cuvée Jean-Paul Méditerranée Rouge, is a surprisingly tasty red blend, a Grenache and Syrah mix from the Méditerranée IGP region in eastern Provence. It cost me just $8 at a reliable local shop, and I would definitely buy it again.
Today’s Tasting Report
Boutinot 2021 Cuvée Jean-Paul Méditerranée Rouge ($7.99)
A clear, dark reddish-purple blend of Grenache (70%) and Syrah (30%), Cuvée Jean-Paul Rouge breathes fresh raspberry aromas and whiffs of brown spice. Good red-berry fruit flavors start softly on the first taste, but fresh-fruit acidity and soft tannins build structure on the palate. Lingering fruit and tannic astringency linger in a long finish. This isn’t a fancy wine, but it offers significant value in the $10 (or less) range. 13.5% alcohol. U.S. importer: Boutinot USA Inc., Sanford, Florida. (Sept. 4, 2024)
FOOD MATCH: The back label suggests barbecued meats and grilled vegetables. The importer also suggests grilled meats, casseroles, BLTs, pizzas and mature, hard cheeses.
WHEN TO DRINK: The screw cap is protective, but the wine isn’t meant for aging. Drink up over the next year or two.
VALUE:
At my $8 local price it’s a no-brainer for an everyday evening meal. It still qualifies as a decent value at Wine-Searcher.com’s $11 average U.S. retail.
WEB LINK:
Here’s a detailed tech sheet from Regal Wines, a New Jersey distributor.
FIND THIS WINE ONLINE:
Check prices and find vendors for Cuvée Jean-Paul Rouge on Wine-Searcher.com.
Click this Wine-Searcher link to learn about the broad Méditerranée IGP region and browse many of its wines.
Read more about Grenache-Syrah blends and find more offerings and vendors at this Wine-Searcher link.
Explore Boutinot Wines’ portfolio at this Wine-Searcher link.
Find the wines you want
Explore Wine-Searcher
Wine-Searcher.com is the place to go online if you want to find where to buy a particular wine that interests you. What’s more, Wine-Searcher.com offers so much more. It’s well worth a visit just to discover its many features, including its popular list of the world’s Top 10 Best Value Wines.
Good wines we’ve tried under $10.99!
Want tips to still more good, inexpensive wines? Here are Wine-Searcher links to vendors and prices for a bunch more wines for $10.99 or less that I’ve told you about in recent years. In some cases the prices may have risen over the $10.99 mark since I reviewed them, but they should still be excellent bargains. Please tell us about your favorites!
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Quite expensive but bought one last week at https://harborviewwines.com/ and they had markdowns from everywhere including rioja and rhone