I like wine. I like wine a lot. I got started enjoying wines relatively late in life, and so I don’t have a lot of old wines in my cellar. While in principle I don’t have any objection to spending some bucks on a good bottle of wine, in practice a good proportion of my wines are in my favorite $10 sweet spot.
Here’s a quick and dirty list of red wines that I have had that are both affordable and exceptional. I’ll post some white wines later.
| 1.2005 Bodegas Olivares Monastrell Altos de la Hoya Jumilla
This is a lovely bold wine from the Jumilla region of Spain, which has some of the oldest vines in Europe. There are lots of good bargains from this region of Spain. It has many of the characteristics of a Chateauneuf-du-Pape at a fraction of the cost |
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| 2. Henry’s Drive Pillar Box Red
I’ve had a couple of these vintages and they are all just great. A very nice Australian blend of cabernet sauvignon, shiraz, and merlot. The Wine Advocate considers this one of the biggest wine bargains in world. I agree. |
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| 3. Thorn-Clarke Shiraz Terra Barossa
This is an old favorite from Australia. Although I am mentioning only the Shiraz here, anything from this producer is a great bargain. |
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| 4. N.V. Fess Parker Lot 41 Frontier Red
Yes, it is that Fess Parker. For those of you not old enough to remember, Fess Parker played Daniel Boone on TV in the 60s. He is now the owner of a very fine winery that produces a number of very nice wines. This one is reliably delicious. |
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| 5. 2005 Georges Dubœuf Juliénas
I know what you’re thinking. Beaujolais? That insipid stuff that was marketed so successfully in the US in the 80s? The Julienas is not Beaujolais Nouveux, it is a Beaujolais Villages, which is a totally different animal altogether. This can give you a small sense of what a Burgundy wine might be, again at a fraction of the cost. |
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