No Wine Over $20-Reviews and the LA Wine Scene

My pal with the hollow wooden leg Ronnie the Worker Bee says "Stevie...can you get me a case of mixed red all under $15?" Hmm. Let me think...

I love a challenge and I have such confidence in my local vendor Woodland Hills Wine Co (new website with super search engine!) - even though my favorite sales guy has gone and left us (good news - he is opening his own "shop and dine" joint) - that I gladly agree to put it together. [ed. Credit winedoctor for posting simple instructive maps of Burgundy including this one]

You know what happens, of course. I end up buying my own mixed case because Paul & Kyle Smith's deals are so damn good! I am working my way through the selection, presented for your own consideration.

2006 Trenel Beaujolais-Villages $11: This wine is so good it is ridiculous. I served it to the missus and she said so. Robert Chadderton Selection. We have tasted and reported on other Trenel wines, especially the Cru vineyards from 2005 . Good news...the 2006 vintage is equally spectacular. But, igottatellya, this is hard to beat this for the $$. Soft not quite ripe cherry fruit (I like that), velvety smooth (no tannins to speak of), and just down the hatch she goes. I did read a recent review complaining the finish was short. Hey...have another glass mister. At 12.5% you can have a few!!! Hell yeh!! Here is to low alcohol, balanced, tasty fruit-driven wine!!

2005 Cotes du Rhone Domaine de Cristia $11: This may seem unusual to say BUT thank goodness I have come across a wine that is just OK. It is the domaine's entry level so it should be at least OK. This Rhone blend is just OK. I have tasted so many fruit-driven, mostly balanced U20 wines of late it seems there is little else out there except the even BIGGER and definitely not balanced fruit-driven trophies. But this wine has that once familiar high acid presence, light tannins, slightly overwhelming the fruit, not over-ripe but still ripe enough to recognize the grenache flavors. Mild smoke, dustiness. Was a time before Parker [ed. BP, like BC or AD] most wines tasted like this one. 13%

2004 Fratelli Revello Dolcetto d'Alba $12: This label from Barolo (Piemonte) tends to turn out younger styled wines. My 1996 and 1997 Baroli aged early. I like the wines but decided awhile ago that buying Barolo wines at lofty prices was just not worth it. The go-to importer for Barolo wines, ala' Becky Wasserman for Burgundies, is Marc De Grazia. However, I think he just does not have enough variety in styles to present as broad a range as does Ms. W. This is a Marc De Grazia wine. Right out of the bottle it is quite tasty. Cookie dough and cinnamon spice flavors. However, Dolcetto's are not meant for the long term. After about 45 minutes the fruit faded and we were left with a somewhat narrower and woody drink. 13.5%

2003 Clautiere Mon Rouge ~$18 thru wine club: Syrah/cabernet blend split almost down the middle. The blend is pretty nice. The dense cab flavors set off the syrah ripeness. I automatically wrinkle my nose at "non-traditional" blends. However, in this case, the blend worked. This food-friendly wine (i.e., not overly "extracted") would complement many meals. It is remarkably fresh for a wine with 4 years plus.

...the Grenache Blanc mini taste-off...domestically speaking...

2006 Curran Grenache Blanc $24 at Curran website: A wine I have learned to love. I wish I could compare to French styles but....this is all peaches and spring flowers...nose is somewhat muted but flavors are all there. Medium weight for white wine. I have found this wine will age nicely for at least several years. Can be served at room temp. 14.1%.

2004 Tablas Creek Grenache Blanc $25: Estate grown (of course). This is more serous wine with strong overlay of oak and alcohol (15.3%!!!). For a 4 year old wine this is still brawny and muscular. If the Curran wine is delicate and femmy likeHolly Golightly then the TC is all Hulk Hogan (maybe less drama). The fruit is there but, right now, the wood dominates. Almost intimidates.

I cannot help but think of the Williams Selyem and Rochioli pinot noir taste-offs we have had in the past. Again and again W/S would prove to be the fruitier and lighter wine, endlessly charming and supremely quaff-able. The Rochioli was almost always for long term aging. Totally serious with tons of complexity and to be enjoyed on its own, when Rochioli is ready (Rochioli as alpha wine?).

Now you might wonder how one can fairly compare wines from two different vintages. No explanation is offered. I do not think the Tablas Creek GB wine has lost any fruit. I just think it is a tougher wine. Both will age just fine...at least a few years.

Two excellent examples of how GB can be made in California.

The Best of Wines has a simple objective: finding, tasting and praising the best wines that are under $20. Sounds easy enough. But, as an old pal used to love to say...it ain't easy!!

tBoW is not lost in his own world of wine. We have perspective. We know there is a national election, state budget crisis and US economic meltdow with enough special considerations and odd balls to keep a fleet of experts, commentators, strategists, economists, lobbyists, legislators and the general voting public in an uproar for months. Nevertheless, consider the following hurdles that must be surmounted every week so that tBoW can report on U20 wines [ed. special thanx to BeKaLin ARTfor the Palin-toon. Now back to MY OWN LITTLE WORLD].

Finding the wines is greatly eased if you have a dependable retailer. tBoW has Woodland Hills Wine Co for a neighborhood drive, North Berkeley Wines for the online source, and the Palate conglomerate (Steve Goldun's retail sales, restaurant and wine bar) for the consummate wine experience. Each source has plenty of great quality wines in the target zone. However, in the process of finding U20 wines there is always temptation to break the U20 limit and indulge in higher-end product.

Tasting wines becomes less onerous when the right friends and freeloaders who are happy to throw in their own palates and bottles get involved. Of course, the danger is that sometimes a crew member (almost always peripheral) has unusual tastes that actually conflict with tBoW and Co. A matter to be handled with delicacy including resisting the urge to "educate". A condescending sense of humor helps.

Praising wines would seem to be the easiest part. Wines that hit the spot and meet the U20 criterion are easy (and a pleasure) to describe. The dark side is when a nasty wine is discovered. We pray the wine is corked as that takes the winemaker off the hook. Sometimes it is unavoidably clear the wine itself sucks. Like spousal management, sometimes we report it, sometimes we simply pass on the option.

With this in mind, tBoW went through blog posts from July 2007 through the end of June 2008 and found 47 U20 wines that were tasted and praised in the first 12 blogging months that are worth buying again.

Call it the Top 47 List.

These wines were really good. In the end the surest measure of admiration is a repeat purchase. While tBoW would re-purchase any of the wines, sometimes they are not available, or the season changes and the Moscato d'Asti mood so strong in June goes into hybernation just like bears and squirrels. However, some of these very wines presently rest in tBoW's cellar for re-emergence over the next 12 months.

Whatever. Here is the list of 47 wines the tBoW tasting team tasted, praised and in many cases bought again. If you find them, we suggest you buy them. Especially if they are on sale.

The list shows the wine name and vintage, price when purchased (nearly all in 2007/08) then the importer and/or retailer.

What does it all mean? We like wines from France. More than half (27) of the picks are French. We are not talking Bordeaux and Burgundy. We be slumming. Does France make better wine than other regions?

When talking U20 it would appear to be the truth. Others will tout current Spanish and Italian wines. The tBoW team would disagree, usually on the basis of price alone. U20 selections from Spain and Italy exist. But not in the quantities we see from unfashionable regions of France.

There is the obscurity argument. Who knows. There may be great inexpensive Hungarian and Romanian wines (someday maybe but not yet). The French wine pipeline goes around the world so we get to see their trophy and off-off-Broadway products. After France the Top 47 pie gets cut up by Paso Robles, Argentina (the real challenger to France) and a few Italians and Austrians.

You might also notice tBoW likes young wines. As well as reds, pinks and whites. We have reviewed plenty of older vintage trophies - classics and new style - but we just are not that impressed.

Finally, any list is a function of personal taste, whether it is tBoW, Parker, any Wine Speculator columnist, or any other wine blogger.

We stand by our list. We make no claims to its significance beyond our U20 criteria (price, quality, pleasure, lower alcohol). We hope that contributes to your wine drinking pleasure. Vote for me.

Attention data freaks...Click HERE for the excel file, searchable and with bonus information. Click HERE for the pdf.

Now check out Rey Maualuga making like a short seller while ending another Big 10 fantasy.

[ed. credit LA Times photo]