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- Domaine Ste Michelle NV Brut 2020
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The Domaine Ste Michelle NV Brut 2020 is a non-vintage Champagne-style Sparkling wine from Chateau Ste Michelle in the Columbia Valley of Washington. This is a value-priced Bubbly, it lists for $13 and I found it for $8.99 on-sale.Even though it is a reasonably priced Sparkling wine it is produced in the same production style as Champagne (Cava too) which is a rather involved winemaking technique.Sparkling wine in the ten dollar price range is often made in the Prosecco-style (Charmat Method) which is a modern and more economical way of getting bubbles into wine.With Bubbly at an affordable price, I am not overly concerned about how the bubbles got there. As long the Bubbly is an enjoyable drinking experience I am happy, but I always give a producer extra points for using the more expensive Traditional Method (Champagne). Going the extra mile and still offering an affordable Sparkling wine is commendable.The Domaine Ste Michelle NV Brut 2020 uses a blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier, along with possibly other varietals, the tech notes are kind of vague.The various lots of grapes of different vintages are fermented separately and then blended together before the second fermentation. One thing mentioned in the Domaine Ste Michelle NV Brut 2020 technical notes is that the first fermentation lasts for two to three weeks.Traditional Method Bubbly almost always talks about the length of its second fermentation, in Champagne the minimum time in the bottle is 18 months, with many wines going months and even years beyond that.The Domaine Ste Michelle NV Brut 2020 does not say a word about the length of 2nd fermentation. At first, I thought that was odd, but once I thought about it made a bit of sense.With Bubbly, the winemaker uses their tricks to create a "House Style" to make the Bubbly their own identifiable Bubbly during the first fermentation. With the 2nd fermentation yeast, sugar and time do their thing, you simply have to wait. It is the first fermentation where the Bubbly gets its style.This is a Brut Sparkling wine which means it is not a sweet wine. The technical notes are not fussy, for pairing they suggest popcorn, crackers, or chips. Most marketing notes for Bubbly have you drinking it at black-tie events or on a yacht. I think Domaine Ste Michelle is the more accurate pairing for most folks.The alcohol content is a relatively mild 11.5%, the Domaine Ste Michelle may be a good wine to break out when you have guests who need to drive home.Domaine Ste Michelle NV Brut 2020 Tasting NotesThe color is a wheat yellow with a hint of gold. The bubbles are plentiful and energetic. The nose is ripe apple, lemons and limes, hard citrus candy, cherry, a little spice, and just a little bit of yeasty bread.This is a tasty Bubbly, it is smooth, but has a nice edge. It starts with a mix of lemon and green apple, then a little unsweetened tart cherry. The mid-palate adds a salty sensation, grapefruit, a little guava, and stone fruit.The acidity is the way I like it, plenty enough to give the Bubbly a backbone and let the flavors have space to unfold. But also enough to stimulate your palate a getting you ready for another sip.The SummaryThe Domaine Ste Michelle NV Brut 2020 is an unpretentious Bubbly that delivers the goods.This is a very drinkable Sparkling wine, it is dry (not sweet), but it has a nectar or fruity sweetness (not sugary) to it.This is everyday Bubbles that will do just fine on NewYears Eve or an important event.Check us out at www.cheapwinefinder.com
or email us at [email protected]6 min - Bread and Butter Pinot Noir 2019
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The Bread and Butter Pinot Noir 2019 is sourced from vineyards in California. Their motto is" Good. Honest. Simple. Do not overthink it." In keeping it simple they do not go into a great deal of detail about the production of this Pinot Noir.Bread and Butter are one of the WX Brand's families of wines. They are one of the top 20 largest wine companies in the U.S. They have a full line of wines and the Bread and Butter Pinot Noir 2019 was the largest selling (in its price class) Pinot Noir wines for most of 2020.This is a wine that I found for around $13 and there is some good completion in this category. You start to find single AVA and sub-AVA wines in this price range.The Bread and Butter Pinot's place of origin is simply California and that is not necessarily a bad thing. I would imagine that WX Brands has a network of vineyards available to them and to be able to allocate grapes from multiple vineyards can give you a good wine at a value price.This is a Pinot that they say is produced in the classic California Pinot Noir style and judging from how the wine looks in my glass it does have that look, but I will get into that more in the tasting notes.The Bread and Butter Pinot Noir 2019 technical notes do not say much but they do mention that French and American oak was used and the alcohol content is 13.5%.They do not mention is the French or American oak was barrels or other methods of imparting oak flavoring, but at this price, I suspect barrels were used. French and American oak are two different species of oak and they add different flavors to the wine.Bread and Butter do not mention this but a wine oak treatment can be a complicated math problem. This percentage of French oak and that percentage of American oak, with so much first use new barrels. And other barrels being second use and still, others being third use, all for caring lengths of aging time.But Bread and Butter says to keep it simple and don't overthink it, so I will forget about the details and check out the most important part, how it tastes.Bread and Butter Pinot Noir 2019 Tasting NotesThe color is clear, clean, see-thru garnet red, it looks like a classic Cali Pinot. The nose is cherry, with herbs, mushroom, dried autumn leaves, chocolate, black pepper, and soft spice, everything both complicated and balanced.This is a silky smooth Pinot Noir, with rich flavor. It starts with black cherry and chocolate (not sweet), soft exotic spice, ripe plum, and licorice. The mid-palate adds strawberry, orange zest, a sharp, short slap of Altoid's spice, and late cooling blueberry finish.The tannins are sweet and smooth and the acidity allows the flavors to do their thing but stays out of the way.The SumaryThe Bread and Butter Pinot Noir 2019 is my style of value California Pinot Noir.There has been a trend lately for value Pinot Noir to be produced in a heavier, more fruit-forward style.I like those wines, but as a glass of Red wine, not as a Pinot Noir. I want more mystery, more complications my Pinot.The Bread and Butter Pinot Noir 2019 is a good classic Pinot Noir at a good price.Check us out at www.cheapwinefinder.com
or email us at [email protected]6 min - Veuve Monsigny Champagne Rosé
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The Veuve Monsigny Champagne Rosé is a $19.99 Aldi exclusive, 65% Pinot Noir, 25% Pinot Meunier, and 10% Chardonnay sourced from vineyards across the Champagne region in France. I imagine when a lot of folks see a store brand twenty buck Champagne they figure that there is no way it can be very good. Most Champagne starts at $35 and goes up and up. And while I have not tasted the Veuve Monsigny Champagne Rosé yet, we will get to that in a few paragraphs, the Veuve Monsigny Champagne Brut was one of my most memorable wines from 2019.Aldi in Europe, where Aldi South is our Aldi and Aldi North is out Trader Joe's, is the place to go for value wine. Their own branded wines routinely wine awards. And Aldi has a distribution network that is huge, they cover Europe, the United States, and Australia. In a quick look of the web, the Veuve Monsigny Champagne Rosé is sold on all three continents.A store brand has price advantages over retail wine brands. They do not spend money on marketing and advertising which accounts for a large chunk of the price of retail wine. They typically pay the wine producer upfront, cash on delivery, while retail wine producers do not recoup their investment until the wine sells in the store.Aldi has the ability to sell wine in large numbers and a smaller profit, but large per bottle sales do add up. Wine producers want to sell wine to Trader Joe's, Aldi, Costco, etc. It is great for cash flow and the store brands often do not compete directly with the wine producers' own line of wine. Selling to Aldi does not infringe on their own sales.Champagne is synonymous with quality and Aldi tries hard to be synonymous with value. So combining quality and value, with Aldi offering excellent Champagne at bargain prices, is a great marketing image for Aldi.This is a Rose' Champagne which always confuses me. A simple explanation, maybe too simple is Rose' is red grapes made into wine using White wine techniques. But Champagne is commonly a mix of Red and White wines. There is Champagne using only Chardonnay (Blanc de Blanc) or made with red grapes (Blanc de Noirs). Meaning in turn White Champagne from White grapes and White Champagne from red grapes).If you simply see the sweetness level on the label in this case Brut or dry not sweet, then both red and white grapes are used in varying percentages. So if red grapes are typically used and the color is still White, then where does Rose; come into play? As far as I can tell the main difference is the color.There are a couple of ways a Bubbly can become a Rose' the first is with skin contact with the Red grapes when the grapes are crushed. They pull the skins out when the desired color is achieved. Or after second fermentation after they remove the spent yeast from the bottle they can top the bottle off with a measured amount of Red wine. This is where they also adjust the sugar level.Veuve Monsigny Champagne Rosé Tasting NotesThe color is on the amber side of pink and there is a flurry of tiny bubbles. The nose is cherry, citrus, light spice, just a touch of yeasty bread, and ripe plum.The Veuve Monsigny Champagne Rosé is very balanced and nice and firm on your palate, It tastes of concentrated cherry, a slap of tangerine, brittle lemon juice, and a short stab of sharp spice.The mid-palate offers that nutty, salty sensation you get from "on lees', cranberry, and dried strawberry bits.The acidity is very well balanced, it allows the flavors to unfold and stay awhile and sets your palate up for the next sip.The SummaryThe Veuve Monsigny Champagne Rosé is an excellent Bubbly, do not worry that it does not cost enough, just buy it, drink it, and be happy.This Champagne has a density on the palate value-priced Bubbly seldom can duplicate.I would like to sneak this $19.99 Aldi Champagne into a Champagne blind tasting, maybe $50 or $60 and under, and see the looks on folks' faces when they rate the cheapest of the..Check us out at www.cheapwinefinder.com
or email us at [email protected]7 min - Wolf Point Distilling With Eric McMillan
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In this episode, we switch things up & talk spirits! Local spirits! Specifically we chat with Eric McMillan, Brand Ambassador for Wolf Point Distilling in Chicago.We talk about what Wolf Point is & taste through their Jackscrew Vodka, Florence Field Gin, Captain Santa Vapor Infused Moonshine & an extra tasty treat or two as well.So what is "Wolf Point"? What is a "Craft" moonshine? Listen in to find out now ...Check us out at www.cheapwinefinder.com
or email us at [email protected]30 min - Trader Joe’s Platinum Reserve Sonoma Brut NV (2020)
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The Trader Joe's Platinum Reserve Sonoma Brut NV (2020) is a Trader Joe's $14.99 non-vintage blend of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Pinot Meunier sourced from vineyards in Sonoma County AVA in Northern California.The back label says this Bubbly was "produced and bottled by" Rack and Riddle, Healdsburg, California. They are an independent wine company that specializes in Traditional Method (same as Champagne) Sparkling wine.There are some California Sparkling wine producers that do have their own production facilities for the second fermentation of Sparkling wines. But there are many brands of California Sparkling wines that originate ate Rack and Riddle.The Trader Joe's Platinum Reserve Sonoma Brut NV (2020) is part of the Platinum Reserve series of Trader Joe's wines the break out of the typical TJ's $9.99 or less price point. The Fearless Flyer has mentioned in the past that the Platinum Reserve wines are equal in quality to wine selling at twice the price.That is a bit of a problem when talking about Traditional Method Sparkling wine since Champagne dominates the market and commands a price greater than the competition. The price of Champagne is not based on the cost of production as much as it is based on what you are willing to pay for it.Most other Traditional Method Sparkling wines that do not come from the Champagne region are forced to sell their wines at more affordable prices to compete. So is a non-vintage Sonoma County Bubbly made by a custom wine service, even if it is a very good custom wine service really equal to a thirty dollar California Sparkling wine?The answer is maybe, it could well be, but since we know nothing about the production details that would confirm its higher price, it hard to tell. At $14.99, the Trader Joe's Platinum Reserve Sonoma Brut NV (2020) competes directly with California Bubbly from Chandon, Piper, Gloria Ferrer, Roederer, and the New Mexico Bubbly from Gruet.With those other wines, there is a pedigree and the vineyards and the production techniques are documented, while Trader Joe's Bubbly is a one-off wine with no documentation.I have not tasted the Bubbly yet so all this musing may be mute if it turns out to be sensational and the Platinum Reserve wines that I have tried were well worth the money.It is just that with most Trader Joe's wine it is easy to tell if you are getting a bargain or not, these Platinum wines start to bring some doubt if the elevated price is warranted on every occasion.So on to the tasting portion, the alcohol content is a precise 12.72% and this is a Brut Bubbly or not sweet.Trader Joe's Platinum Reserve Sonoma Brut NV (2020) Tasting NotesThe color is at first looks almost silver, then turns to gold, the bubbles are tiny and energetic. The nose is slightly yeasty, with green apple, lemon, lime, grapefruit, melon, cherry, and a whiff of minerality.This is a nicely balanced Bubbly, it does taste expensive (but then again, so does its competition), it is both smooth and tart. It tastes of chewy crusty bakery bread, tart lemon, tart apple, cherry hard candy, and a salty sensation.The mid-palate adds kiwi, pear, soft spice, and a mix of peach and melon. The acidity is excellent it allows the flavors to unfold and will have you reaching for the next sip. This bottle will be empty before you realize it, so pace yourself.The SummaryI still do not know if Trader Joe's Platinum Reserve Sonoma Brut NV (2020) at $14.99 is better than its competition, there are some strong Bubbly in this price range.Is it worth $14.99? Yes, it definitely is, this is quality Bubbles.So, there you go. I do not know if this is a bargain, but you do get what you pay for and that is great drinking Sparkling wine.Check us out at www.cheapwinefinder.com
or email us at [email protected]7 min - Mantenere Russian River Chardonnay 2019
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The Mantenere Russian River Chardonnay 2019 is a $6.99 Trader Joe's wine sourced from vineyards inside the Russian River Valley AVA which is in turn inside the Sonoma County AVA of Northern California.The trademark for Mantenere is own by Francis Coppola Wines and Mantenere Cellars is located in Geyserville, California. Which also happens to be the home of Coppola Winery. I do not know if the Mantenere Russian River Chardonnay 2019 is simply a private store brand or if at some time this wine will be available at retail wine shops.That does matter to the point that if it is a wine that will be sold everywhere then it is a Coppola wine. A store-brand may be produced to the wishes of the wine buyer for the store. A doubt a winery would ever compromise quality to produce a store brand, but it could possibly be made in a style not consistent with their own brand of wines.Trader Joe's seems to be specializing in value-priced wines from high-end growing regions. The Russian River Valley AVA is a premier Pinot Noir and Chardonnay area in western Sonoma County. Chardonnay from vineyards here never sells for $6.99 except for store brands such as Aldi, Costco, and Trader Joe's.A retail Chardonnay that has California on the label as a place of origin is not really a lesser wine, especially at this price-point. Large wine companies have vineyard holdings and partnerships in various areas of California's wine country. Making effective use of their grapes helps them keep the selling price in line.A Chardonnay incorporating grapes from a warm growing region added to grapes grown in mountain foothills then blended with Vally fruit will make a complex wine that belies its price.Not that Russian River Chardonnay grapes can not also offer diversity. It is just that when a producer gets an offer for grapes from a high-end growing region at an excellent price I doubt if they are overly concerned if the grapes came from complementary regions.Trader Joe's does not offer information concerning the production techniques used for the Mantenere Russian River Chardonnay 2019, so if have to rely on the back label to find some useful information.The back label mentions ripe apple, lemon curd, and a creamy texture. Apple is one of California Chardonnay's prime flavors so no hints there, but lemon curd may indicate some sort of oak conditioning and at least partial Malolactic fermentation. A creamy texture can come from aging the Chardonnay "on lees", along with oak.At $6.99 you do not expect fancy new French oak barrels, but that is not the only way to get those flavors into value-priced wine. The important issue is not so much how those flavors were incorporated into the wine, but how it tastes. Oak barrels are mandatory for more expensive wine, but cheap wine gets points for ingenuity. The alcohol content is 13.5%.Mantenere Russian River Chardonnay 2019 Tasting NotesThe color is wheat yellow with a tint of gold, sometimes the shade of yellow in a Chardonnay will give a clue if the wine was oak-aged or not. The nose is apple, canned peaches in a light syrup, pear, lemon, pink lemonade, and a light floral edge.This is a medium-bodied Chardonnay with a firm mouthfeel, with a mix of smooth and tart flavors. It starts with a slightly sour green apple, grapefruit, spice, and lemon. The mid-palate brings coconut cream, vanilla, and lime.The acidity is well-balanced by the body the wine.The SummaryThe Mantenere Russian River Chardonnay 2019 is an interesting and tasty Chardonnay.There is a pleasing mouthfeel and the flavors contrast well with each other.$6.99 Chardonnay does not get much better than this.An excellent party wine, three bottles for $21.The Mantenere Russian River Chardonnay 2019 is an excellent bargain.Check us out at www.cheapwinefinder.com
or email us at [email protected]6 min - Farmhouse California Red 2019
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The Farmhouse California Red 2019 is a blend of Zinfandel, Mourvèdre, Carignane, Syrah, Petite Sirah, and Grenache sourced from vineyards in California. Farmhouse California is one of Cline Family Cellars' line of wine.Cline is a family-owned winery founded in 1981 that specializes in sustainably farmed vineyards and wine. One of the things I admire about Cline Family Cellars is that they produce single-vineyard wines that sell for fifty, sixty, or seventy dollars but they also make excellent value-priced wines.The Farmhouse in the brand name refers to an old schoolhouse at Green String Farm where natural, sustainable farming practices are researched and taught. It is a world-class destination for sustainable practices.I choose the Farmhouse California Red 2019 because a was looking for an inexpensive (I found it on sale for $8.99), honest Red wine. I was not looking for fancy production techniques and stats, just a glass of good tasting wine.The Farmhouse California Red 2019 gave me a little something extra for my money. The grape blend is an interesting array of varietals that originate in southern France, along with good old USA Zinfandel (it is actually from the Mediterranean). This Red blend will not taste like the same old same old.The blend was aged with French oak (40% new oak) for 8 months, which is a pretty lengthy aging process for a 2019 vintage. The technical notes never say the word "barrel", just French oak. You see that a lot with value-priced wine and I am never sure exactly what that means. Were no barrels used, there are different ways to get oak conditioning?With an inexpensive wine if oak barrels were used or not isn't particularly important. If whatever they do work and tastes natural and right is all that I am concerned with. So, the Farmhouse California Red 2019 is an interesting blend of sustainably farmed grapes and is vegan friendly, too. The alcohol content is 13.5%.Farmhouse California Red 2019 Tasting NotesThe color is a see-thru, but just barely purple. The nose is ripe fruit, with some dark chocolate notes, black pepper, spice, plum, raspberry, and blueberry.This is a medium-bodied bright, fruit-forward wine. It tastes of blueberry, Snickers chocolate, plum, a brush of dusty spice, and black pepper. The mid-palate adds tart cherry, orange zest, and cranberry.The tannins are soft and smooth and the acidity gives a shine to all the flavors. This is a tasty wine.The SummaryThe Farmhouse California Red 2019 is a solid, honest, tasty, value-priced red blend.Expensive wine is not good and inexpensive wine is somehow bad. Value-priced wine is made in a different style than the expensive stuff.Value wines can be bright, alive, and juicy, with fresh flavors, it is a very appealing style.The Farmhouse California Red 2019 is an excellent example of value wine.Check us out at www.cheapwinefinder.com
or email us at [email protected]6 min - Gerard Bertrand Crémant de Limoux Thomas Jefferson Rosé 2017
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The Gerard Bertrand Crémant de Limoux Thomas Jefferson Rosé 2017 is a blend of 65% Chardonnay, 20% Chenin Blanc, and 15% Pinot Noir sourced from the Cremant de Limoux AOC section of the Languedoc in southeast France.Limoux is the birthplace of Bubbly/Sparkling wine the monks from the local Abby started making wine with bubbles in the early 1500s. They were making Bubbly a hundred years before Champagne. I read a story that may or may not be true, Dom Perignon, a monk from farther north in Champagne was coming back from a trip that took him to what is now known as eastern Spain and on the way back to Champagne stopped in Limoux. And the rest is history.The Thomas Jefferson reference on the label is from records found at his home, Monticello, showing that the only Bubbly in his wine cellar was Cremant de Limoux. Which exact Bubbly he had on hand is not known, but it was a couple of hundred years ago.The Gerard Bertrand Crémant de Limoux Thomas Jefferson Rosé 2017 is made with the Traditional Method, the same process used in Champagne. There are some differences, in Champagne the second fermentation needs to last a minimum of 18 months, while Limoux only mandates 9 months.The Gerard Bertrand Crémant de Limoux Thomas Jefferson Rosé 2017 is a vintage-dated Bubbly. Most French Bubbles on the more value end are non-vintage wines. There is nothing wrong with non-vintage Bubbly, they are used to establish a "House Style". A wine you can count on vintage after vintage.Vintage dated Bubbly while being produced with the same methods of the "House Style" Sparkling wine will be different from year to year since conditions in the vineyard vary from year to year. Sparkling wine producers often only produce vintage date Bubbly in yeas where the conditioned in the vineyard will yield special wine.While this Bubbly does not have a history that dates back to the 1500s or Tom Jefferson, it is produced from vineyards in the same locations and with production methods pioneered in Limoux. In Champagne, they call the Traditional Method the Champagne Method. That is a little misleading, they did not invent the style, but they did perfect it.This is a Brut Rose' meaning a not sweet Bubbly and the pink color comes from the 15% Pinot Noir grapes. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes are used extensively in Champagne and Chenin Blanc Bubbly is a personal favorite of mine. The alcohol content is 12.5%.Gerard Bertrand Crémant de Limoux Thomas Jefferson Rosé 2017 Tasting NotesThe color is slightly orange in the bottle, but in the glass is pink with an apricot tint, there are tiny, very fine bubbles. The nose is citrus, melon, green apple, light spice, crusty bread, and dried strawberry pieces.The Gerard Bertrand Crémant de Limoux Thomas Jefferson Rosé 2017 has a firm mouthfeel with nice chewy acidity. It starts with tart lemon, grapefruit, cherry, that salty/nutty "on lees" sensation, and a touch of mineralogy. The mid-palate adds a hint of cream, soft raspberry, and yeasty bread.The acidity will have you reaching for another sip before you know it, this is a glass of Bubbles that you will finish sooner than expected, so but accordingly.The SummaryThe Gerard Bertrand Crémant de Limoux Thomas Jefferson Rosé 2017 is a very satisfying glass of Bubbly.The one thing you need to remember about French Sparkling wine is that people only spend big bucks on Champagne. It does not matter how good the Bubbly from any other French wine is, if it is not priced affordably it is not going to sell.While that is bad news for winemakers in any place other than Champagne, it is good news for wine drinkers because there are bargains to be found.If you are looking for tasty, classy Bubbly (should be found for $15 to $20, watch for Holiday sales) the Gerard Bertrand Crémant de Limoux Thomas Jefferson Rosé 2017 will get the job done with style.Check us out at www.cheapwinefinder.com
or email us at [email protected]6 min - Dueling Pistols Dry Creek Red 2016
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The Dueling Pistols Dry Creek Red 2016 is not your usual CheapWineFinder wine. It is not cheap, this is a splurge, special occasion wine for most folks who follow CWF. It is a Red Blend, 50% Zinfandel, and 50% Syrah and the list price is $49.99.A quick check of the web showed online prices between $30 and $60 which is a wide range, so look for sales. The Dueling Pistols Dry Creek Red 2016 is a drink-it-now wine like almost all of the wines we feature, but it is made in a very different style.Wines somewhere around the ten dollar range are made to come together fairly quickly, the sooner the wine is ready for sale, the quicker they can get a return on their investment and the less expensive the wine is. The Dueling Pistols Dry Creek Red 2016 a completely different style of wine.The grapes are selected from specific vineyards where the grapes have a certain quality the winemaker is looking for. The wine is produced with all the bells and whistles, how soon the wine finds its balance is not a major concern.The Zinfandel was sourced from older vines in the northern part of the Dry Creek Valley AVA. Dry Creek is the premier Zinfandel region in Sonoma. he Syrah was taken from vineyards in southern Dry Creek Valley. The Southern Dry Creek Valley runs into the Russian River AVA which is a cooler Pinot Noir region.Each block of the Zinfandel and Syrah grapes are fermented separately and then aged for 18 months in French oak barrels (30% new the rest used barrels). The alcohol is a stiff 15%.The Dueling Pistols Dry Creek Red 2016 is a brand from Terlato Wine Group, they are the folks who popularized Pinot Grigio in America with Santa Margherita. Before Terlato a few wine shops that specialized in Italian wines would carry Pinot Grigio and after Terlato Pinot Grigio is available everywhere.On a side note, nobody in the US was drinking Sauvignon Blanc until Robert Mondavi decided to call their Sauvignon Blanc, Fume Blanc. Fume Blanc was a made-up name, but for some reason, people who would not buy Sauv Blanc thought it was great. People caught on that Sauv Blanc and Fume Blanc was the same thing and now it is an extremely popular White wine.So what is a fifty dollar boutique wine doing on CheapWineFinder.com? Well, in December we always try to go a little upscale. We always say the difference between expensive wine and value-priced wine is not a matter of good or bad. It is a matter of style, inexpensive wine is made in a way that allows the price to be reasonable.It is a very popular style of wine, actually the most popular. There are many grapes that I prefer the inexpensive style to a more expensive style. White wine especially does very well as a young, bright, fruit, and citrus-forward wine. Cheap Red wines have made massive leaps in quality in the last five to ten years.With that said there are wines that excel in the spare no expense style of winemaking. The Holiday Season is the perfect time to break the budget and give unique wines a try. In the age of Covid-19 large parties are gone, instead of picking up two or three bottles of the usual suspects, maybe one bottle of something a bit different will do the trick.Dueling Pistols Dry Creek Red 2016 Tasting NotesThe color is an almost opaque black cherry red, more black than red. The nose is, well I guess this may be the power of suggestion but this $50 wine smells expensive, swirling spice, French vanilla, blackberry, licorice, cigar box, herbs, ripe plum, a touch of smoke, and a late whiff of strawberry.This is a wine that will take a little time to get your head around. Figuring out where the Zinfandel ends and the Syrah begins will take a few sips. There is a soft, firm mouthfeel with some sharp edges from the spice, which is something that both the Zin and the Syrah can provide.It tastes of rounded, ripe, blackberry, licorice, spice, a slight pull from the tannins, and black cherry.Check us out at www.cheapwinefinder.com
or email us at [email protected]7 min - Burlwood Cellars Brut Rosé
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The Burlwood Cellars Brut Rose is a $4.99 ALDI exclusive, a Sparkling wine made with the Charmat Method. The Charmat Method is the same process used in the making of Prosecco and is often referred to as the Italian Method though it is used all over the wine world.The back label says this Bubbly was produced and bottled by Burlwood Cellars, Modesto, California. The Burlwood portion is just a brand name that Aldi uses. The Modesto, California part indicates that there is a good chance E and J Gallo had something to do with the making of this Sparkling Rose'.Gallo produces Bear Bros. and Mademoiselle wines for Aldi and is skilled at producing bang-for-the-buck inexpensive wines. They have a huge portfolio but Barefoot Bubbly and Andre's will be similar to Burlwood Cellars. And for five bucks Bubbly those wines are not too bad.Is $4.99 for the Burlwood Cellars Brut Rose too cheap for a drinkable Sparkling wine? The answer is probably not. The Charmat Method introduces the bubbles into the wine by transferring the wine after its first fermentation (just like all other wine) into very large pressurized tanks.Sugar and yeast are added to the tanks and the CO2 that is released by the 2nd fermentation are forced by the pressure back into the wine. This process lasts anywhere from a few weeks to a few months. The more expensive the wine the longer the process.With a 5 dollar Bubbly the second fermentation probably was a few weeks, not a few months. That is a shorter aging period than a comparable still wine. It is quite possible that value-priced Bubbly takes less time to get ready for sale than still wine.Aldi and Burlwood do not mention which grapes were used for the Burlwood Cellars Brut Rose. Rose' is typically red grapes, the color comes from limited contact with the skins, but there are White grapes that are very red.A Brut Sparkling wine is a dry or not sweet wine. It is often hard to tell just how sweet a Sparkling wine is because the acidity in the wine balances the sweetness.The Burlwood Cellars Brut Roses a party wine, four bottles of Bubbly for twenty bucks. That will get the party started. But it does have to taste good. It does not have to be complicated or have layers of flavor, but what is in your glass has to be enjoyable. So on to the Tasting portion of the review.Burlwood Cellars Brut Rose Tasting NotesThe first thing to note is that this Sparkling wine did not have a cage and cork, but a twist-off resealable top. The color is a very pretty Barbie doll pink with a good supply of bubbles. The nose is, well it smells just like Rose' Bubbly, there is strawberry, faint yeasty bread, a bit of minerality, a little citrus, and a hint of spice.How does it taste? Better than any $4.99 Bubbly has a right to taste.It starts with black cherry, there is a slight cherry cough drop feel but not pronounced, dried strawberry, a salty, nutty thing (on lees?), a brush of minerality, enough to give this Sparkling wine a needed tight edge.The mid-palate adds blood orange and soft plum. The acidity is very well-balanced. The acidity in cheap Bubbles often is out of whack and can bite, but not with the Burlwood Cellars Brut Rose.The SummaryThe Burlwood Cellars Brut Rose is a solid party wine or a Tuesday night watching Netflix wine.I know you usually do not have great expectations for a $4.99 wine, but this Bubbly actually tastes good and has no rough edges or defects that you just have to live within five bucks Bubbly.Short review: The Burlwood Cellars Brut Rose is way better than you thought.
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