GrapeSmart.net

“What is happening is American wine companies are buying bulk wine in France, Chile, Australia or wherever, shipping it back here and bottling it here under their own brand,” says Lewis Perdue, the author of wineindustryinsight.com.

“People have no idea the wine they are drinking is cheap bulk import,” Perdue says.

Read the full article here

I guess my question is… does it really matter? My philosophy has always been, “Cheap wine is fine, as long as it tastes good.” I’m not partial to where it comes from. If I’m looking for a bargain, and you can get me cheaper wine from France or Chile where macroeconomics have more to do with wine pricing than brand recognition, I’m all for it!

I do care if the wineries are labeling it as coming from somewhere other than where they bought it, but I highly doubt they are since it would probably put them out of business.

What do you think?

P.S. Thanks to Julie Brosterman of @womenwine for the heads-up on this piece!

La Finca wines from Trader Joe's

With Two-Buck Chuck heralded as the “everyman’s” wine I have become more open to the idea of deeply-discounted wines. To me, Two-Buck Chuck has always been a nice $6 wine for $2. Since I don’t drink $6 wine unless there isn’t any beer available, Two-Buck Chuck is just something other people talk about, not something I experience myself anymore.

But a few months ago, Trader Joe’s Fearless Flyer fearlessly arrived in my mailbox and found its way onto my coffee table. While perusing it, I noticed some new wine they were promoting that goes by the name of La Finca and comes from Argentina. They sell these wines for $3.99 and it caught my attention. The following questions ran through my head, in roughly this order:

1. If it’s $3.99 could it be twice as good as Two-Buck Chuck?
2. If it’s $3.99 could it be like a nice wine that’s normally $12?
3. If it’s $3.99 could it be any good?

By the time I’d arrived at the third question I’d reached the point of mini-obsession and I just had to know what they’d be like. So I marched myself right over to TJ’s and picked up a bottle each of the La Finca 2009 Malbec, La Finca 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon, and the La Finca 2009 Chardonnay.

I’ve drinking a lot of Malbec in the last six months as I’m going to write a post about Malbec one of these days. Anyway, the general conclusion I’m drawing about Argentinian Malbec involves the difference between “regular” Malbec and “reserve” Malbec and the old addage “You get what you pay for.” Looking for one more notch in my Malbec bedpost, I dove right in as soon as I got home. And I was pleasantly surprised!

I found the La Finca 2009 Malbec to be very drinkable, very characteristic of Malbec from this region, and of pretty solid structure for a very young wine. Here is a little recap from twitter after I tweeted my usual “mini-review.”

grapesmart: Drinking 2009 La Finca Malbec from Trader Joe’s for $3.99. Was very skeptical–Chocolate nose, slightly acidic, low alcohol… kinda nice.
7:10 PM Oct 19th from TweetDeck

happywineguy: @grapesmart so…is it a middle of the week wine or something good enough to pour for friends?
7:18 PM Oct 19th from TweetDeck in reply to grapesmart

grapesmart: @HappyWineGuy Depends on your friends. It’s acceptable for friends after the first bottle is gone. I have friends I could serve it to
7:26 PM Oct 19th from TweetDeck

grapesmart: @HappyWineGuy That is, if you’re not embarrassed to serve a 2009 IN 2009
7:29 PM Oct 19th from TweetDeck

happywineguy: @grapesmart not at all. The Southern Hemisphere is a half year ahead of us on vintages. So a 2009 is not unacceptable. As a 2nd btl, ok.
7:32 PM Oct 19th from TweetDeck in reply to grapesmart

grapesmart: @HappyWineGuy Thanks for teaching me something new about vintages! I had never thought about Southern Hemisphere being 6-months ahead!
7:42 PM Oct 19th from TweetDeck

happywineguy: @grapesmart awww, that’s what I do.
7:43 PM Oct 19th from TweetDeck in reply to grapesmart

Some time later I opened the La Finca 2009 Chardonnay. I wasn’t really sure what to expect from an Argentinian Chardonnay, or a $3.99 Chardonnay for that matter. I have to tell you, I was absolutely blown away by this wine. It is better than 95% of the Chardonnays I’ve ever had, including all the ones that are over $30. My biggest concern was that since it doesn’t taste like a typical Chardonnay—or even an unoaked Chardonnay where you’ll (hopefully) find more of the Chardonnay grape showing off instead of the oak—that I was mistaken about how good it was. So, I called up Arianna (whom you may remember from such posts as: “I Don’t Read Playboy for the Articles“, “Wine and… Food? Please! Pairings“, and “An Oak Barrel-less Barrel of Fun“), had her come over, and gave her a blind taste. I told her absolutely nothing about what she was drinking and handed her a glass of chilled white wine. I found her analysis to be extremely curious considering what I’d poured.

Amazing balance, citrusy, apricot. Bright & crisp, no alcohol taste like you get in cheaper wines. I’d guess this is a Roussane or other white Rhone and that it’s at least $20. It tastes a little bit older, like a 2007.

This kind of wine is the reason this blog exists. We try everything and point you to great values. This kind of value is rare. If you like white wine go stock up on this Chardonnay, you’ll be glad you did. And if you’re not, I’ll buy the rest of yours off ya.

The story of La Finca comes to La Fin on a sadder note though… Last night I finally cracked the La Finca 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon and I have to say… meh. Not only was there nothing extraordinary, there was nothing ordinary. Well maybe not nothing, because the underlying flavors were nice (cherry and blackberry I think), but I had to fight through minerality, alcohol taste, and that dreaded cheap-red-wine-toothiness to get to them and my taste buds were fatigued before I even finished the first swallow. I wonder if it sat in the bottle a while longer (maybe a year or two) if it would get better. I also wonder if it will be better tonight than it was last night (I’ll keep you posted if it is).

At any rate, the moral of the story is to drink lots of wine so you can figure out what you like and what you don’t like… and then buy lots of what you like when it goes on sale.

This past weekend my husband and I flitted off to San Diego to visit some friends and chill out. In addition to excellent company and excellent food, it was a fun wine weekend, too.

Wine #1: 2006 Beringer Napa Chardonnay

2005 Beringer Napa Valley Chardonnay

As a pre-dinner diversion, our friends Greg & Celine had us over for snacks and a glass of wine before heading out. They served us homemade dips (a delicious Greek yogurt dip with herbs in it and a yummy parmesan-artichoke dip) with pita chips and edamame. They served it to us with (and here’s an adjective I never thought I’d use to describe a Beringer wine) Napa Valley Chardonnay. It was crisp, a little oaky, and had hints of green fruit. A well-structured, enjoyable white wine for $10-13 per bottle.

Wine #2: 2007 Alexander Valley Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon

2007 Alexander Valley Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon

Greg & Celine brought us to their friends’ new restaurant in Del Mar, California called Zel’s. The patio was lovely, the food (mine at least) was excellent, and the service was an adventure. Greg insisted that since I have a wine blog I needed to choose the wine for the table. Unusually, there was a choice to be made because Zel’s has a great wine list and really great bottle prices on the wine. I asked around and everyone liked Cabernet, so I chose the Alexander Valley Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon. You’ve heard me say before that you can’t go wrong with a Cab from Alexander Valley and this gem was no exception. A delicious Cab typical of Alexander Valley, it carried us gracefully through mussels & french fries, warm spinach salad, sea bass with mushroom risotto, steak, pork shoulder, and a serrano ham woodfired pizza. We happily ordered 2 bottles during dinner and not only would I go back to this restaurant (a rare compliment from me) I would buy this wine at twice it’s normal price of $14-17 per bottle.

Wine #3: 2005 Clos du Bois North Coast Cabernet Sauvignon

2005 Clos du Bois Cabernet Sauvignon North Coast

In the afternoon, I took my friend Gary shopping at Walmart. There are so many parts of that sentence which sound strange to me, but the strangest of all is that I voluntarily went into a Walmart (stranger still I spent money while I was there… on wine!). While we were wandering the aisles, I discovered they sell wine. In fact, I picked up a couple bottles of the Bonterra Organic & Biodynamic Chardonnay for $6 which is a STEAL. While perusing the shelf I saw the 2005 Clos du Bois North Coast Cabernet Sauvignon and opted to pass. Boy was that dumb. Later that afternoon, while sitting around playing games and drinking (that’s what Sunday afternoons are for, right?) we opened a bottle that Gary already had at his place… and it was better than I’ve come to expect from Clos du Bois which can be SO hit-or-miss. (Example: I love their Pinot Grigio but hate their Pinot Noir.) This Cabernet was not of the same exceptional quality as the one from the night before, but nonetheless, when you’re looking for value in your limited wine budget, this wine will make you think you spent more than you did for your $12-15 per bottle.

Wine #4: 2006 Domaine Chandon Pinot Noir Carneros

2006 Domain Chandon Pinot Noir Carneros

When we made it to our final dinner of the weekend, we were ready to keep the good times rolling, so we ordered another bottle of wine. Well, I guess we technically ordered two bottles of wine. The first one was a Zolo Malbec… a wine I love! Or thought I did. I in fact love the Zolo Gaucho Select Malbec which I bought at BevMo! (which is, near as I can tell, a Reserve wine). They also bottle a lesser-version of it without the Gaucho Select, and I can tell you it’s not as good as the Gaucho Select. So, I sent it back. Instead we ordered the 2006 Domaine Chandon Pinot Noir Carneros because Mitch loves Pinot and we were all eating dinners that would go nicely with a Pinot. Lately I’ve felt like every Pinot Noir I taste is overwhelmingly cherry or tastes like water even though it looks like wine. Finally that streak has been broken but I don’t have a new Pinot to add to my shopping list when I want a wine in the $20-25 range because I don’t think it was worth that much. More like $15-18 per bottle.

[Editor's note: This post has been updated... at the end of the post]

Many moons ago, in a land far far away (90-ish miles south) I used to only buy wine at Cost Plus World Market. In those days the prices seemed good and you could sum up my wine knowledge/experience with a phrases like these, “1994 Chardonnay is good” and ” I think I like Pinot Grigio.” I was more of a tequila girl in those days and I really went to Cost Plus for those heavenly Belgian Chocolates (note: only heavenly if you like hazelnut and chocolates with creamy centers) and to buy a papasan chair.

Over the years, we’ve wandered in to the one near us a few times. We’ve discovered it’s a great place to purchase lightweight Christmas gifts that travel cross-continent in our luggage very well. We’ve also discovered that they have great prices on Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label around the holidays. I’m not sure why, but I added myself to their email list and over the last several months the company has been significantly gearing up the importance of wine in their stores and improving their online presence.

At first the wines scared me. I hadn’t heard of 95% of them, the prices were either ordinary or the wines were so cheap I didn’t trust them, and the mediocre ratings didn’t increase my likelihood of purchasing. But lately… the only thing stopping me from making a CPWM run is the 20-something bottles of wine I already have in the house.

Regardless, here are the pros and cons I’ve been weighing on the decision to go try wines from Cost Plus World Market.

Pro: Unbelievable prices. I’ve used a couple of wines that they sell to make assessments about their general prices (specifically in search of the answer to “how good is the deal?”). The aforementioned Veuve at $34.99 a bottle (sale price any time of year, including the holidays) made me sit up and take notice. I’ve consistently seen that their prices are under $15 for just about everything. Also, they’re constantly sending (seemingly) great deals that are even lower than their already-low prices.

Pro: The list of wines is starting to include wine regions I know and like: Today’s email caught my attention with a Tempranillo from Ribera del Duero (see my post about the Vina Santurnia Tempranillo) for $6.99 a bottle (normally $9.99). $9.99 is a low price (though not bargain-basement) for a Tempranillo from this region in Spain. $6.99 is a steal and I really want to try it.

Pro: The list of wines is starting to include wines I know and like. After catching my attention in the email, I browsed the website for a bit and was surprised to find these wines which I know and like

• Franciscan Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon (shop it)
• Conundrum (shop it)
• Simi Cabernet Sauvignon (shop it)
• Bodega Norton Reserve Malbec
• and many many more well known wines

Con: The website doesn’t publish a LOT of their prices. This is a con for two reasons. It requires me to go to the store to check out their prices, which I’d prefer to do at my computer because I live in a congested area and I’m not a fan of traffic. It’s also a con because it makes me think/know they’re adjusting prices based on local markets. This drives me batty. Why should I have to pay  more than the wine lover in Encinitas just because I live in Los Angeles? How can I figure out which stores have the best prices? These shouldn’t be questions I have to ask.

Con: They’re still carrying some skeevy wine labels. There are a couple of classes of wine I’m wary of… Wines with great marketing approaches (”Wine that loves chicken” and “Promisquous” come to mind). In my experience to date, these wines are all ordinary. It’s an attempt to sell a large volume of ordinary wine to unsuspecting consumers who might not know (or care) what good wine tastes like. Fine for them, not for me. The other group of wines are anything that’s regularly priced under $8. Mostly this is because these wines are almost always produced by the Bronco Wine Company (the esteemed makers of Charles Shaw a.k.a. Two-buck Chuck).

Con (if you don’t live in California or near an CPWM): Most of these deals are only available in California. It seems that they’re only selling wines (or trying these deals) in some states. I live in California so I have fantastic access to wines and I wouldn’t be surprised if the deals are extra special because it’s California.

Bottom line: It’s gotta be worth a visit if you live near a Cost Plus World Market and you like to find wine values by buying good wines at great prices.

Do you buy wine at Cost Plus World Market? Share your thoughts and leave a comment, please!

Update!

We stopped by World Market the next day (because my curiosity was insatiable) and picked up a six-pack (as I lovingly call them) to take for a test run. We had two shopping goals in mind here… The first was to see if World Market’s prices are low and bring great value or just low because they’ve purchased cheap wine. We also decided to further explore Tempranillos from Spain as it’s a region/varietal we’ve found some great values from in the past. We bought:

1. Campo Viejo Riserva, $12.99 per bottle – Haven’t tried it yet
2. 2007 Vivir, Vivir Tempranillo from Ribera del Duero, $6.99 per bottle
   This PROBABLY belongs on the “do not drink these wines” list. I was able to finish the bottle despite its finishless grapiness. Definitely will not be purchasing again. Would rather spend a few more dollars and like what I’m drinking.
3. Bodega Norton Malbec (x2), $7.99 per bottle
   This was a wine I had previously purchased at Costco more than once for $12-15ish per bottle. It’s a nice quality Malbec. Not something that jumps out at me in the $12-15ish range, but definitely a good value at $7.99 per bottle.
4. 2006 Etim Seleccion, $10.99 per bottle
   Robert Parker rated this wine 91. I thought it was okay and the price made it okayer. By now I’ve started to realize that not all Tempranillos from Ribera del Duero are good. This was an important realization because now I won’t just buy blindly when I see one… I’ll only do it for 2004 or 2005. Another lesson in why if you’re going to use ratings to buy wine, be sure you agree with the ratings system at least some of the time. I personally prefer Wine Spectator’s ratings and find them the most accurate for my palette.
5. Cortijo III Tinto, $7.99 per bottle- Haven’t tried it yet

Editor’s note: This post was written on Mother’s Day

This morning I received the greatest gift a mother could get: My preschooler slept in. This bit of amazingness allowed me the opportunity to wash dishes and scrub the toilet. It’s Mother’s Day not Miracle Day – these things aren’t gonna clean themselves.

And so it went until I found myself at Target.

Let me be clear: Normally, I do not buy wine from household discount retailers! But I was there anyway, my son was in tow and I wasn’t about to drag him to another store, so I made the best of it.

And, actually, “making the best of it” was surprisingly easy.

As one would expect, Target has an incredibly small selection. The store where I was shopping carried fewer brands than my local grocery store. But, that being said, there was actually an okay selection of decent wineries, with prices starting at around $6 for a Barefoot Merlot and going all the way to $32 for a  2006 Stags Leap Merlot. Also on the shelves was a 2007  Ecco Domani Pinot Grigio  for $10, a 2007 Hess Chardonay for $11, a 2007 J Lohr Cab Sav for $14, and Moet & Chandon White Star Champagne for $37. Honestly, I was really just expecting a box of good ol’ Ernest and Julio Gallo.

I decided on a 2006 Ravenswood Vintners Blend Zinfandel. I happen to be a huge fan of Ravenswood Zin, and this one was even on sale! $6.99 marked down from $9.99.

I’m used to seeing these wines start at around $12 and go up from there. But lately I’ve noticed a preponderance of 2006 Ravenswood Zins on the market between $6 and $10, and I’ve wondered if 2006 was a bad year for them.

I think so. Probably.

The normally rich, mellow body seemed sharp and sour in this bottle – it tasted very, very “young.” Perhaps it would’ve been improved by more time to breathe, although the bottle was open for almost an hour before I could settle down and enjoy my first glass. It was still a delicious wine, but this one – the bottle of wine I bought on sale at Target, let me remind you – didn’t possess the depth and deliciousness I’ve come to expect from a winery that’s widely known to produce some of the best Zins on the market in the under $25 range.

This, of course, did not stop me from drinking the whole bottle. Happy Mother’s Day to me!

My take-away from all of this? 1) If a solid wine suddenly sells for far below its average retail price, there is probably a reason. Go for something known to be scrumptious on the less expensive side (stay tuned for that piece). Just because the winery is well-known for higher-end varietals, doesn’t mean their budget-priced products will be worth their salt 2) Target never stops proving its usefulness, and 3) It’s really hard to explain a cheap wine hangover to a four year-old.

This is a new feature I’m starting to show everyone how easy it is to buy great wine at fantastic prices. The only times I ever spend more than $20 on a bottle of wine are as follows:

1. When I’m out wine tasting in wine country somewhere.
   I’m usually caught up in the moment (buzzed if it’s the end of the day) and willing to pay full retail under these circumstances.
2. When I’m buying someone a gift (I’ll often spend $20-50 on a bottle for a friend)

Otherwise, there’s no reason to spend more than $20 on a bottle of wine. Ever.

It’s actually quite easy and here’s my recipe:

1. Find a store near you with great prices (there must be one) and visit it often (I like Safeway stores, best prices around, plus you get a 10% discount if you buy any six bottles)
2. Find a store near you that gets special deals (they buy large quantities of small-production wines) and get on their mailing list (I like the Wine House, best prices at a wine-specific store on this side of town)
3. Only buy on sale! (This is my all-time money-saving tip for everything… it stretches your dollars by however much you’ve saved)

My latest trip was especially triumphant… here’s the tally:

1. 2008 Bonterra Sauvignon Blanc (made from Organic grapes)
   Regular price: $14.99, Sale price: $11.90, Six-pack price: $10.71
2. 2006 Sanford Chardonnay (Flower label)
   Regular price: $21.99, Sale price: $15.39, Six-pack price: $13.85
3. 2006 Steelhead Sauvignon Blanc
   Regular price: $18.99, Sale price: $9.98, Six-pack price: $8.98
4. Promisquous Red
   Regular price: $16.99, Sale price: $9.98, Six-pack price: $8.98
   So-so. For $9 it’s okay.
5. 2006 Coppola Malbec
   Regular price: $18.49, Sale price: $13.98, Six-pack price: $12.58
6. 2005 Keltie Brook Merlot
   Regular price: $18.99, Sale price: $6.99, Six-pack price: $6.29

Grand total Regular price: $110.44
Grand total Sale price: $68.22
Price I paid: $61.39 (plus tax)

TOTAL SAVINGS: $49.05 (44%)
Price per Bottle: $10.23

Caveats: I’ve not had most of these, so I can’t yet vouch for their quality… I know the Sanford Chardonnay is good.  I don’t normally drink Merlot but that was too good a price to pass up just to see if it’s any good.

UPDATE

The 2008 Bonterra Sauvignon Blanc was great. It was light, not too acidic, and (as is my usual test for success) makes me want to drink/buy more of it. The Promisquous Red and the 2005 Keltie Brook Merlot were undrinkable. The Coppola Malbec was  much like the other Coppola wines (Director’s Cut excluded from this description)… decent but nothing to write home about for a fair price. The Steelhead went down smoothly, very fruity and tart, though not overly tart. I’d say the Steelhead is a classic-style reasonably well-balanced Sauvignon Blanc. It’s regular price feels steep, but the sale price was a “steel.” The Sanford Chardonnay was good as usual… That’s my go-to white wine.