Want a scrumptious, smooth, red wine to go with your filet mignon tonight? You could break out a Romanee-Conti, a Burgundy coveted by Russian oligarchs and Japanese carmakers, or you could pop open a DeLoach pinot noir from California.
The 1988 French Burgundy cashes in at $12,250 a bottle, the 2013 Heritage Reserve costs $10.99. Either one will impress your friends – the choice is yours.
If you’re feeling more like a pauper than a prince after the holidays and still have a present (or two) to give, not to mention a gift for tonight’s hostess, local wine shops have just the thing. Imagine a fabulous bottle of your favorite red, white or bubbly – wine is the drink of the gods, after all – for $20 or less.
Really, it can be done. Not only are good bottles to be had for under $20, many come with ratings of over 90 points from wine magazines and industry experts. So you can cellar that Romanee-Conti another year, if you’d like.
“The comfort zone is 10 to 20 bucks,” said Allen Levitt, wine buyer for Liquor World, of the price range for most wine purchases. “Young people seem to be done with the mixed beverage craze and are coming back to wine.”
But trust me, it’s not just the young who want top quality wine at a down-to-earth price.
“Most of the wine that walks out of our doors is under $20. You get outside of that and it’s an expensive weekly habit,” said Jolin Cordalis, wine buyer for Star Liquors.
But sorting the good or even the great bottle from the dreck takes knowledge, skill and dedication. The first will make you a hero among your set, the latter will label you a heel, passing out aspirin and Alka-Seltzer to help your guests cope with a bad bottle’s ill effects.
To help you unearth the best bets for the fewest bucks, local wine shop owners, wine buyers and restaurateurs did the hard work – forthwith, their recommendations for the best 10 bottles under $20 in town.
Durangoans tend to like their wines red and really big, with juicy, ripe flavors. And why not, now that Spain has entered the wine scene, producing wines of great depth and value? Your budget may balk at that marvelous California cab, but it will breathe easy with these sunny finds.
Levitt, Cordalis and Karen Barger, owner of Seasons Rotisserie and Grill, all have their favorites. Barger touts a Honoro Vera 2012 made from the garnacha grape she offers on her 20-for-$20 list at the restaurant. It’s a medium-weight wine with blueberry notes that goes well with lighter foods.
“The bang for the buck is amazing,” she said.
If your tastes tend toward a meatier wine, Levitt suggests the 2012 red blend Solanera, made from monastrel, cabernet sauvignon and garnacha. It garners 94 points from wine guru Robert Parker, who likes wines not just big but gigantic, and who effuses that the $12.99 bottle is worth four times the price. Levitt describes it as having berry and currant flavors that go well with meats and French cheeses.
For a spicy red that fits with the holiday season, Cordalis praises a classic tempranillo, Spain’s most heralded grape. The 2010 Cal Blanca from Toro earns 91 points from Wine Spectator magazine and is full of black fruit flavors like blackberries, plums and licorice for $11. Like the Solanera, it calls for steak as an accompaniment.
But for those of us who prefer red wine with a more refined style, our experts offer hope and a few choice selections. Admittedly, it’s harder to find a drinkable pinot noir (the name of the grape in Burgundy and the wine in America) in the under $20 range, so discovering one is all the more thrilling.
Eric Allen, co-owner of the Wine Merchant, lauds the DeLoach Heritage Reserve for its black cherry notes and fine balance of sugar and tannins, saying it’s the best affordable pinot he carries. It would pair well with entrees like salmon, duck or pork loin.
Levitt, meanwhile, plugs the 2012 Castle Rock California pinot, a blend of grapes from different vineyards. It costs an astonishing $7.99 for a wine that collected 86 points from Wine Spectator. It’s silky smooth with up-front fruit on the palate.
But not to fret, you lovers of the paler drink, our wine experts have located a few gems for you, too.
If you’re having a Venetian moment, perhaps dressing as a masked countess for New Year’s Eve, you might want to serve that beautiful Veneto classic, Soave. Allen extols La Cappucina’s 2013 version for $13.59. Typical of its kind, it’s bone dry with no oak, making it light and juicy and a perfect match for seafood.
If you’d like something sexier, Cordalis recommends that new hottie beloved in the Old World, riesling. She likes the 2013 Dragonstone by Leitz from Germany, at $19. Grown in slate, its sugar and acids are delicately balanced and hit your tongue first with a bolt of tropical fruit and then a tangy jolt.
And now, a nod to New Year’s. For some, this is the only night of the year they partake of those divine tiny bubbles, for others, it’s the kick-off to 12 months of enjoyment. Once only grown in France, champagne grapes now proliferate all over the winemaking world.
Durango’s bubbles aficionado, Alan Cuenca, owner of Put a Cork in It, is a champagne-for-all-occasions kind of guy. He can’t say enough about the non-vintage François Montand brut rose he carries for $14.99 from the Jura, east of Burgundy.
“It has the tasty brioche flavors you would expect, very clean and vibrant. It’s an outstanding wine that over-delivers,” he said.
Barger and Levitt hold forth over that long loved Italian sparkler, prosecco, which truly is wonderful with anything, anytime and has the price to make it possible. The peachy Lunetta by Cavit clocks in at $12.49 and comes in a handy 3-pack of small bottles for $10.99.
I bet you’d be stunned to find a sophisticated sparkling wine from New Mexico, but Gruet, out of Albuquerque, produces an authentic tasting brut for $17.99. Chuck Stratemeyer, the manager at Joe’s Animas Wine & Spirits, likes not just the strawberry and citrus flavors it offers up, but the slight creaminess that balances it out. What does he suggest serving it with?
“Bacon and eggs, that’s the best,” he said.
Now that’s the way to start 2015, especially if someone brings it to you in bed.
Happy New Year to you all!
phasterok@durangoherald.com
