Although the bottles we get aren't (usually) complex, they are reliably good. Last night we opened a 2005 "Line Shack" Cabernet Sauvignon from Monterey which had nice smooth tannins, cherry flavors, and ended with a tiny bit of spiciness that I really, really liked. Not bad for $10! (yes, I know that $10! = $3,628,800 but I don't know how to express an abrupt utterance of delight in print involving money without using the factorial symbol) KLWines prides itself on sending very good bottles for the price. That sounds a little silly, who doesn't pride themselves on stocking very good products? Wait, I know who, American grocery stores stock foods that sell, not foods that taste good (or are healthy). Stores in our country are often all about maximizing profits, so they don't take pride in selling quality things. (not to totally knock that business model, but it is often pushed too far with food)
If you happen to walk into a store you will find my personal wine-buying rules to be useful:
1) Don't buy from a store which does not have a knowledgeable wine-person.
2) Don't buy major-label wine. Major label wines are like chain restaurants, reliably mediocre. You will never love a wine from one of these places. So buy from a little guy.
3) If the label has words like "rat bastard wine", "big blue trucker wine", "friendly bitches wine" just stay away. If you don't believe me, just imagine someone who is excited by these labels. Yuck!
4) Don't spend more than $15 (unless you know what you're doing.) There are a lot of great wines under this price, especially if you stick with the small guys.
5) Don't spend under $7 unless you want to get a headache.
6) Don't buy Merlot, especially if you are following the $15 rule. The name Merlot sells the wine, it doesn't have to be good, I don't know why this is. (Some Merlots are quite good, but you'll have to drink a lot of bad ones to find the good ones, again, especially under $15)
Finally, I generally like to buy wines that are named by the place they come from as opposed to the name of the grape. The locations are more specific. Each region has its own climate, soil structure, and farming methods. These are the types of things that take a chardonnay, for example, and rises it up to the level of a Chablis. I usually look the name of the wine in my handy-dandy little wine encyclopedia. You could also use the wiki, or the wine dictionary at epicurious.
Readers, do you have a favorite wine? What do you remember about the best bottle you've ever had?
2 comments:
This is going to reveal my pedestrian taste, no doubt, but my favorite wine currently is the Cycles Gladiator line. I bought it, as I often do, because I liked the label (a naked girl with flowing red hair swinging from a winged bicycle...in what appears to be SPACE!), but it turned out to be absolutely delicious. I started with the Syrah but have since tried the Cabernet Sauvignon and the Merlot and have been equally pleased with each. It retails for (I think) $10 and it available at Whole Foods and, evidently, from their website as well.
Alright, I'm giving a shout out.
Black Bart's Bride from Stagecoach Vineyards...obsessed with this.
Paul Hobbs Pinot Noir
And in the summer I drink gobs of Sofia from Coppolas Vineyard. I drink so much of the stuff I think that I am going to name my daughter Sofia.
I am in your corner with Merlots. I've had a few that were lovely little wines, but majority were disappointing. None are even standing out for mention here. However 2 bottles into the night you probably can slide one by me with no difficulty.
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