Best Buys
Best Buys are wines that offer a high level of quality in relation to price. There are no specific guidelines or formulae for determining Best Buys, but they are generally priced at $15 or less.
Tempra Tantrum 2008 Tempranillo-Merlot (Vino de la Tierra de Castilla)
- Best Buy
- Online Exclusive
- $10
A touch stalky on the nose, but after that it gets things mostly right. The fruit aromas and flavors are subdued, with jammy raspberry notes leading the way. There’s no overt burn or grating feel, and that’s good with inexpensive, niche-filling concept wines like this. Fine if you’re expectations are modest.
— M.S.
(6/1/2010)
Tommasi 2008 Romeo Red (Delle Venezie)
- Best Buy
- Online Exclusive
- $10
Tommasi’s easy-going Romeo is a well-priced Italian red with fresh aromas of wild berries, blue flowers and slight shadings of sweet spice. Complete with a screw-cap closure, the wine would work well at picnics and informal lunches.
— M.L.
(5/1/2010)
Bodegas La Guarda 2008 Vika Syrah-Malbec Malbec-Syrah (San Juan)
- Best Buy
- Online Exclusive
- $9
Prune and baked fruit aromas lead the bouquet, which brings some earth and leather. The palate is thick and full, with sweet, savory, roasted plum and berry flavors. Foresty, spicy notes drift onto the finish, but there’s also a flatness that keeps things restricted.
— M.S.
(11/1/2010)
Falernia 2006 Reserva Carmenère-Syrah (Elqui Valley)
- Best Buy
- Online Exclusive
- $10
A little baked, warm and medicinal, but also an interesting and unique tasting wine. There’s a beefy, gummy weight to the palate, but also flavors of blackberry, herbs, soy sauce and brown sugar. Shows good points but rates out as a strange wine that confounds as much as it inspires.
— M.S.
(3/1/2010)
Columbia Crest 2007 Two Vines Vineyard 10 Red Wine
- Best Buy
- Online Exclusive
- $8
The red wine companion to the excellent Two Vines Vineyard 10 White has got some stuffing, tannins and chewy, herbal flavors, but the fruit holds its own with flavors of wild plum and rhubarb.
— P.G.
(12/31/2009)
Paladin 2008 Salbanello Red (Delle Venezie)
- Best Buy
- Online Exclusive
- $10
This is a fresh and uplifting blend of Cabernet and Malbech with buoyant aromas of wild berry, cranberry, blueberry and tart exotic spice. It has a smooth texture and easy concentration with sweet fruit flavors on the close.
— M.L.
(5/1/2010)
Snoqualmie 2007 Whistle Stop Red (Columbia Valley (WA))
- Best Buy
- $10
Herbal and dill infuse the light flavors, and the tannins feel as if they’ve been softened up in the winemaking process. The wine does a quick fade.
— P.G.
(3/1/2010)
Bodegas Navarro López 2008 Rojo Granrojo Tempranillo-Garnacha (Tierra de Castilla)
- Best Buy
- Online Exclusive
- $9
A better wine than the label’s varietal Garnacha, so it seems as though the Tempranillo brings character and elevation. Wild berry and cherry aromas mix in citrus and spice, while the palate is fruity, with pepper and soft spice flavors. Turns a touch tart and toward cranberry the longer it’s open.
— M.S.
(8/1/2010)
advertisement
What We're Tasting
2009 Russian River Vineyards Estate Grown
Rich flavors of cherries, persimmons, cola, anise and oak flood the…
Facebook Activity
advertisement
Twitter Activity