Wine Skeptic

Hagen-daaz Brazilian acai berry sorbet

It may not be wine, but a huge shout out to the H-D folks who are trying out this new style of fancy desserts. In this case the tannic bite and overall complexity – orange pekoe tea flavors are stunning. Great qpr since it rolls in at 4 bucks or so.

Mark west Chardonnay 2005

its a typical oaky Chardonnay, but surprises with a decent balance of fruit. The Aussies come on strong for a 5 buck wine. I sense a touch of paint thinner on the finish, I may need to rethink this post.

Chateau de la taille 2005

Bordeaux keeps coming on strong, this has the great barnyard smell, decent leather and sour cherries to expect. And what? Only 8 bucks!

I started this blog with the thought that wine is really expensive, and hard to find good value for the money. Unlike our good friend beer, mass market product is rarely good. Over the past 6 months, I have totally switched my view. While expensive (sponsors are welcome), I think most people can provide themselves with some spectacular experiences by using basic judgement and following their palette. A first tip is to look for some bargains, I think the 40 dollar bottles marked to 20 can be very interesting, but ultimately the best way to find value is to look for 15 dollar bottles marked to 8.
Why would this be the case, why not 10 marked down to 5? Because there seems to be little reason to produce 10 dollar wine with any exciting qualities. I think it’s much like restaurants capturing the low ground is a safe bet, and the high ground, but middle ground (think Chilis) is a tougher place to find good value.
15 dollar bottles on sale I tried recently (only got 1/3 off)
Brassac 2005 Bordeaux
Chinot 2005 Cabernet Franc