Like a great meat loaf, pot roast, or any other number of “comfort foods,” a great house wine is comforting, affordable, and easy to consume. These are the perfect types of wines to have on hand at all times to open for all sorts of occasions. Your neighbors are coming over and they don’t “appreciate” your higher end wines, you’ve already downed two nice bottles but want to keep the party going, or you’re having a party and need good honest wines to serve to your guests — all of these scenarios call for good house wines. You’re invited to stop by this Saturday, November 1st between 2 and 5 pm to taste through a great lineup of budget priced, easy drinking, and easy-to-buy wines from various parts of the globe. And just because they’re budget priced doesn’t mean they’re not good! We’ll try a 92 point rated Chardonnay from Southern France that drinks like one that would run you $25+, a classic and traditional Sangiovese-based wine from Tuscany, and a smooth and spicy Merlot from the Rhone Valley.
Even better, this is a free wine tasting to you and all of your friends, and all of the tasting wines will be discounted 10% by the bottle, 15% if you mix six of them, and 20% if you mix a case or more of them. Prices range from $10 to $15.
The Wines
1. 2013 Domaine Lafage Novellum Chardonnay (Languedoc/Roussillon, France): Jean-Marc Lafage doesn’t know how to make bad wine — we’ve tasted most of his wines, and we’ve never felt the need to spit any of them out. The new release of his perennial top value Chardonnay might be the best he’s ever crafted. “A custom cuvee by importer Eric Solomon and a blend of 100% Chardonnay that comes from two separate vineyards, this Cotes Catalanes is aged three months (on Viognier lees) in a combination of Burgundy barrels and stainless steel. Exotic and perfumed, with ample white peach, creme, brioche and subtle nuttiness, it flows onto the palate with a medium to full-bodied, layered and beautifully detailed texture that shows bright acidity and fantastic purity of fruit.” 92 points The Wine Advocate
2. NV Caparsa Rosso di Toscana (Tuscany, Italy): Based in Radda in the heart of the Chianti Classico zone, Caparsa is owned and operated by Paolo Cianferoni, a fast talking, passionate farmer and winemaker. In the words of importer Jay Murrie (Piedmont Wine Imports), “this certified-organic (by CCPB) one-man estate makes compelling wine from old vines in the heart of Chianti Classico, with very little manipulation or modern technology.” We love Paolo’s Sangiovese-based Rosso, a pure and pretty rendition of the grape that exhibits plenty of fresh and tart cherry, cranberry, earth and spice notes. We love this one with red sauced pasta, meaty pizzas, and grilled or roasted chicken or pork.
3. 2011 Domaine de Couron Merlot (Ardeche, France): Under the stewardship of Jean-Luc and Marie-Lise Dorthe, this family run estate is nestled in the tiny village of Saint Marcel d’Ardeche in France’s Southern Rhone region. The estate’s Merlot rootstock originated in Pomerol in Bordeaux and the vineyards were planted in 1974. All of the fruit is hand harvested and the fermentation takes place in cement vats to produce a pure, rustic and charming version of the grape. Packed with ripe blueberry, cherry and plum fruit along with subtle notions of spice and earth, this one sells for less than $10 and it doesn’t disappoint.