The Cheap Wine Project

YOU can live the good life, for less than 11 bucks a bottle!

Transnoodle
Sep 4, 2018 · 6 min read

Disclaimer: I don’t know much about wine. Or, if I do, I can’t articulate it. But my partner Nina does. She’s a sommelier, which is kind of like a Dungeon Master for wine. I got sick of accidentally opening her rare, expensive bottles when my friends were over (She got slightly more sick of it.) We decided I needed a wine cellar of my own, for us reg’lar folks.

So Nina picks out the wines and I buy ‘em. Anything under 11 bucks is fair game. Why not ten bucks? Well, there’s just a lot of great wine priced between $10.01 and $10.99. We also avoid anything MUCH less than $10, because it simply costs a certain amount to make a decent bottle of wine, and anything much cheaper might be heavily processed.

Then I drink the bottles — I mean, “taste” them — and rate them on a very simple, zero-sum scale: GOOD or BAD.

Season Two

1. Zestos Tinto (Spain)

Price: $10
Review: GOOD.

“Never met a garnacha (or indeed a Spanish wine) I didn’t like.” — Josh O’C. Really enjoyed this one. Zestos made an appearance in Season One, so it’s nice to see they have a stable of good Cheap Wine.

2. Chateau St. Michel Rose (USA)

Price: $10
Verdict: GOOD.

Season Two brings many more bottles of USA and French wine. This one is just what it says on the bottle: A dry, crisp rose, without too much acidity, and not too florid; just how I like it.

3. Ken Forrester Old Vine Reserve Chenin Blanc (South Africa)

Price: $10
Verdict: GOOD.

Really good. Crisp. Dry. S.O: “A Chenin Blanc for ten bucks!”

4. Hangtime Pinot Noir (USA)

Price: $10
Verdict: GOOD.

Solid choice for a quaffable Pinot noir. Pinot Noir is one of my favorite reds. Like a lot of new wine drinkers, I prefer light reds like Pinot and Grenache. I often find medium reds like Merlot and Zinfandel too tannic, heavy, or “dolorous” (my term for what starts to make my head feel heavy, or drunk). I generally prefer to drink heavier reds like Cabernet Sauvignon only when I’m eating. Pinot I can drink on its own, and when it’s hot outside, and all day, if necessary.

5. Cheap Cider Special Edition!!! — Younts Hard Apple Cider (USA)

Price: $10
Verdict: GOOD.

American ciders tend to be too sweet. This one is dry and crisp and full of wholesome apple flavor. You may have to get this direct from Younts Wine Farm.

6. Moulin de Gassac Guilhem Red (France)

Price: $10
Verdict: GOOD.

Sometimes I only know a wine made the cut because I have the picture of it on my phone days later. I surmise that this was a Solid Southern Rhone red blend that kept the party going.

7. Famille Perrin Reserve Cotes Du Rhone Rouge (France)

Price: $10
Verdict: GOOD.

We took some of this to the beach and it went down a treat in the warm night air. Yup, that’s all I remember — which is one of the big reasons I use a zero-sum, two-point rating system!

Season One

1. Kampus Dry White (Greece) — SEASON ONE WINNER — WHITE WINES

Price: $6
Verdict: GOOD.

I love dry white Greek wine. It’s cool and refreshing, like it came pouring down a waterfall. I would buy cases of this wine and drink it at meals.

2: Zestos Malvar Old Vineyard (Spain)

Price: Like six bucks
Verdict: GOOD.

Though not 100 percent to my taste.

3: Sierra de Viento Garnacha (Spain)

Price: Six bucks
Verdict: GOOD.

Not perfect, but solid, quaffable medium red table wine.

4. Cono Sur Pinot Noir (Chile) — SEASON ONE WINNER — RED WINES

Price: 9 bucks
Verdict: GOOD.

In fact, way better than it has any right to be. Nice sulphur note which passes for complexity. A Pinot you can serve all damn day. Really worth it.

5. Altés Garnatxa (Catalonia)

Price: Like Six bucks [Revised: Now going for $11]
Verdict : GOOD.

REALLY LOVELY. Good at any price, Amazing for this price! Could have been season one winner, but I had more bottles of Cono Sur and only one of this.

6. Delas Ventoux Red Blend

Price: Ten bucks
Verdict: GOOD.

Very Good. Deep, full flavor but not too heavy. Goes to the head. The Chinese would say, “warming”. Good with steak I’d think. A great buy.

7. Alfasi Reserva Merlot (Chile)

Price: $9
Verdict: GOOD. [Revised to BAD.]

Quite Good. Soft on the palate, light, aaaaand it’s Kosher!!! [Revision: I tend to avoid this now because of the “soft-water” mouth feel.]

9. Yamana Malbec (Yes, I also noticed there is no #8. I blame the Cheap Wine.)

Price: Around Ten bucks
Verdict: GOOD. Light, smooth, delicious, Ahmad Al Rikaby adds, “Mystic.”

10. Gazela Rose Vinho Verde

Price: Four bucks
Verdict: GOOD. [Revised to BAD]. Fine, baseline rose Vinho Verde. Cheaper than Casal Garcia. From friend Daphne: “I would drink it again; interesting; I would buy it again.”

11: Tsantali Roditis d’Estelle Rosé (Greece & Macedonia)

Price: $9
Verdict: GOOD. Awesome! Delightfully Dry!!! At this price?

12: Racine Minervois

Price: About Ten bucks
Verdict: Good. Mildly tannic, delicious, good with a steak.

13. Honoro Vera Monastrell

Price: Less than ten bucks
Verdict: GOOD. Can’t believe organic wine can actually be good.

13. The Wolftrap SMV (South Africa)
(Yes, there are two 13s. I told you, when doing Cheap Wine Project sometimes you lose count.)

Price: 8 bucks!
Verdict: GOOD.

This one was the 2017 Runner up for daily drinkable reds. I bought a case of this and slung it at parties for a month. Delicious. A rich but light table red. And — had the nerve to remain Good after sitting open for three freaking days!!!! Plus, um, Starks.

Transnoodle

Written by

TV & video producer, writer on history, business, civil rights, technology and science, and ENnie-award winning game designer.

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