Archive for March, 2018

From the Quick-but-by-no-means-Dirty Dept.:

2016 Cuvee des 3 Messes Basses Rosé Ventoux, 60% Grenache, 20% Cinsault, 20% Carignan, 13% alc., $5.99: Here’s everything you need to know about this terrific bargain. The bottle pictured on the right is empty for a reason. This rosé is made by the same producer that is responsible for one of the more memorable red QPR All Stars that we’ve run across in the last several years, and it offers the same kind of value.

It does everything you could ask from a dry rosé, and is eminently drinkable. Hell, it’s way too easy to drink. A bottle shared with friends can be drained in minutes. The price is so low at Western Market in Ferndale, you can buy it in multiples (6 gets you a 10% discount) and open a 2nd bottle after you finish that 1st one. You can even open a 3rd and 4th, depending on how many friends you have.

We picked up 2 cases of this yesterday, and Western had another 5 or 6, so, I would recommend getting your butt in there post haste if you’re looking to cash in on the best value in dry rosé that we’ve found in many moons. Find this wine

Imported by Kindred Vines Import Co., Troy, Michigan

Reporting from Day-twah,

Bastardo

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I’d like to think that I’m not the type of hombre who is swayed by a Robert Parker score on a wine label when making my purchasing decisions. Obviously, this is nothing but a ploy to sell bottles to numbers chasers and consumers who aren’t savvy enough to have a buying strategy based on more substantial factors, like the producer’s reputation, appellation of origin, age of vines, etc.

So why in the hell did I bite on this one when I found it displayed at our friendly neighborhood Costco?!

The producer, Señorío de Barahonda, is hardly a household name, even here at Gang Central, and while we’re not exactly unfamiliar with wines from Yecla, located in southeastern Spain, neither is it way up there on our radar. And just what does “old vines” mean on a label, when no actual age is given?

Sometimes it all comes down to just being intrigued and asking one’s self, “How bad can it be for 9 bucks?”

As luck would have it, this turns out to be a pretty damned good glass of wine. A quick look around the producer’s website never did tell me just how old those vines (situated at 700 and 800 meters above sea level) actually are, but the bottom line is what’s in the bottle.

2014 Campo Arriba Old Vines Yecla by Señorío de Barahonda, 70% Monastrell, 20% Syrah and 10% Garnacha Tintorera, $14% alc., $9.99: I was concerned that this might be a fruit and oak bomb, but such is not the case. Clean and dark in color, with a nice, earthy core of plum, berry and cherry fruit, more black than red. Big, but not too ripe, and I really like its earthy disposition; the good structure should take this at least five years down the road, no sweat. This is a red meat kind o’ wine, and I’m thinking lamb all the way. It opens nicely with some air and gives pleasure with an hour in a decanter, but tannin pigs might just want to pour a glass as soon as it’s uncorked. This was aged three months in small French oak barrels, but, again, shows very little influence from that regimen. It offers great QPR (quality-price ratio) for so few dollars, which is why we keep going back for more. Find this wine

Imported by Joint Ventures, New Rochelle, NY

Reporting from Day-twah,

Bastardo

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