Color

A delicious off-white that looks crisp and refreshing.

Nose

Floral, apple and pear. You can smell the crispness and it looks made for seafood.

Taste

Look at that, I was right! Matter of fact, I’m always right. Otherwise I wouldn’t be writing this blog. Honeysuckle, pear and acidic apple juice. Good acid, but no real structure. The wine is all over the place but at least the fruit is narrowed. As usual for these under $5 wines, there is no finish other than the end of the bottle.

With Food

Would work with fish, but not shellfish. This wine can’t stand up. Tilapia, some grilled snapper with a Mexican-style rice would do quite well.

Where to Buy

About $4 at Trader Joe’s.

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$14.99 at Cork & Bottle Fine Wines!

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That’s right, it’s Valentine’s Day, folks. The reasoning behind this week’s wine and food pairing suggestion should be obvious to everyone out there. If it’s not, well, just buy a box of chocolates and whatever wine we tell you to because it seems like you will need all the help you can get. We’re asking you to step it up this year when it comes to choosing your gifts for Valentine’s Day. Leave the cards on the shelf and flowers in the…ground? Stick with wine and chocolate and possibly a reservation at Denny’s someplace fancy. Try a decent  bottle this year. Lift your gaze to that second or third shelf and pull out an extra five bucks. Strange advice for a site that looks for the best wine deals under $20, but we don’t want to see you sleeping on the couch come Sunday night. Do you hear me you schlubs (i’m including women in that insult, btw)?

Here are some cheap suggestions (Note: You may want to prevent your significant other from reading this, because then they will know just how much of a cheap b****** you really are, despite all three of these being delicious and under $20):

Fonseca 2003 Late Bottled Vintage Port (Dark Chocolate)

Whether Tawny or Ruby, Port might have been made for chocolate and cigars. This one will be a sure winner because of it’s rich fig, dark cocoa and leathery flavors. The sweetness and high alcohol content don’t hurt either. We’ve done a couple of other Port reviews in the past, and the Fonseca is another good one for under twenty bones.

Found in most stores

or

$16.89 at LowestWinePrices.com

$17.98 at WineLibrary.com (they can get it to you with 1-day shipping)

Altosur 2008 Merlot (Milk Chocolate)

Merlot is a great match with chocolate and fruit. The well-made Merlots (not Bordeauxs, we’re trying to stick under $20 here) tend to have a great shot of chocolate in the mid-palate. Unfortunately, a lot of the under-$20 California Merlots are lacking in the chocolate and cocoa aspects. You would want to hit up some smaller California wineries instead. No, we’re looking abroad for the chocolate flavors in Merlot. Specifically the Mendoza region of Argentina. The Altosur has awesome fruit (blackberry and cherry) with a nice punch of cocoa that should beat your tongue into submission. Great long finish and good tannin structure. A very focused wine that will easily impress even the snootiest woman.

Found in most stores

or

$9.99 at SaluteWineMarket.com

Sebastiani Zinfandel

A popular producer, the Sebastiani is a dark beast in looks but very smooth in taste. Great chocolate-covered cherries, some vanilla and very silky overall. It’s rare to have something this elegant from a producer this large. Also, though popular, odds are your partner has never seen the label and so might think you splurged on a pricier vino. Fools!

Found in most stores

or

$10.99 at WineLibrary.com (they can get it to you with 1-day shipping)

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One of the fondest memories I have is of watching my grandfather eat chili. He loved a good chili the way most men love a good steak. It was one of his two favorite foods, the other being peanut butter. Needless to say, he never could find a way to combine his two favorites, but he certainly was able to ingest ridiculous quantities of each, separately. Many times when he would watch me during summer days or whenever my parents went out for a Saturday night dinner and a movie I would go to the pantry in his house (which was really a makeshift closet) and stare and shelf upon shelf of canned Hormel chili. There would literally be thirty to fifty cans at a time in there, next to which would most likely be a jar of Jiff Peanut Butter. Point is, whether it was a can of Hormel at home, or a homemade pot of bubbling goodness, when you have a favorite food, it should be indulged whenever—and however—you damn well please.

So it’s still winter time for much of the world (despite the 80-degree weather here in Los Angeles), and that means it’s one of the best times for that most American of dishes: Chili. There’s nothing like a hot bowl of tomato sauce, beef, pork, beans and spices all mixed together to warm you up on a freezing 60-degree night. There are three wine reviews today, and all of these go great with with this after-dinner-room-clearing classic. Sorry, but that had to be said.

Cardinal Zin Zinfandel – $11.69 at LowestWinePrices.com

Besides the kick-ass label created by the immortal Ralph Steadman (just think of Hunter S. Thompson), this wine brings serious fruit and kick with it. Chili, depending on who’s involved in the cooking, can be either wild or mild. This wine is equipped to handle both with big fat plums, fig, and syrupy black pepper, if that makes any sense.

San Simeon Syrah 2006 – $14.98 at FineWineHouse.com

With a sissy-ass label denoting the former regional home of overweight publishing maniac William Randolph Hearst the San Simeon Syrah packs enough of fruit punch to handle the spicier, Texas-style, four-alarm, melt your teeth, pants-dropping, blah blah blah my jaw is falling off-type of chilis with ease. Good acid that is surprisingly enjoyable after a mouthful of kidney beans and ground pork. Also, I have to point out how good this wine tastes with the flavor of onions.

Orfila Malbec 2006 – $4.99 at Hell If I Know

I’ve had this wine on multiple occasions at one of my favorite restaurants in Southern California, Inka Trails: a Peruvian restaurant located in the extremely dull town of La Verne. Just go eat there and leave quickly. Anyway, they always have this Malbec that I eat with my “Bisteak a la Pobre”, but I’ve never been able to find it anywhere else. I’ve seen other Orfila varietals, and I know that it is an extremely cheap wine (we’re talking like $4.99 here), but when I asked the owner of the restaurant about his distributor and how I could get my hands on some, he shrugged me off like I had just complemented the glass of water he handed me. Basically, the wine tastes like the perfect mixture of olives, spice, raisin, green pepper and gorgeous blackberry. This is a wine that was born for chili (insert lame “Chile the country” quip here). So we know it’s unorthodox to not give a link to where to find the wine, but it works so well with chili that we figured we’d mention it anyway. If you do find it, please let me know ASAP, as my life is not complete without it.

Check out our other Zinfandel wine reviews.

Check out our other Syrah wine reviews.

Check out our other Malbec wine reviews.

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Gascon Malbec 2008

One of the best wines and best wine deals we have ever seen. Short, sweet and to the point today…

Bad News First

Tough to find anywhere but online. Trader Joe’s had it for awhile, then it disappeared, reappeared, and now is gone again. At least at our location. It’s like the Elvis of wines.

Good News

For once, we have a wine that actually tastes like a grape. Or at least…grape related. The nose on the Gascon Malbec is pure grape Jolly Rancher. Ever had one of those? That hard candy sugar scent, mixed in with that grape flavor that all grape candies shared. That’s this nose. Hard, grape candy. Color is deep ink, staining the glass; amazing for such a ridiculously young wine. You’re going to get quite a fruit salad of flavor with this wine, so be prepared to try and differentiate: raspberries, plums, grapes (again!), all mixed together with a few chopped up cilantro leaves and finished with a little mint and thyme. That’s right, we’re back into the herbaceous reds here. Goooood stuff.

With Food

Nice rare steaks, by themselves or chopped up with some salsa and thrown into a tortilla. A wine that goes with Mexican food? Well, it’s from Argentina, which is…..similar (probably lost some readers with that one). We enjoyed this with roast pork and apple stuffing, which seemed unlikely, but this delicious juice pairs well with most. Just keep this away from fish.

Only $5 at Trader Joe’s (Though maybe not in your area. Click here for locations)

$10.99 at Wine.com if you can’t find it at Trader Joe’s

The winery’s website: Gascon Wines

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The deals roll on at the BevMo 5¢ Wine Sale! Today we’re looking at the Zolo Malbec Gaucho Select 2008, a wine on the verge of greatness from the Mendoza region of Argentina.

Good News: Deep dark red color is the first thing that you will notice. Nothing inky like a Petite Sirah, but certainly darker than many of the reds we have reviewed here; the Zolo Malbec looks like a Cabernet. Take a whiff and you will get TONS of dark red fruit: ripe bing cherries, raspberries and even some plums. The tannins are very pronounced and hit the back of your tongue immediately. Good fruit: those ripe cherries and the plums have been stewed to create a fascinating, silky and full-bodied juice. Fantastic finish that lingers without cranking up the heat. All of this delicious flavor is odd for such a young, young wine, but still, we can’t deny that it’s there. Store it if you like, but you can definitely drink it now. Absolutely stellar.

With Food: RED MEAT ONLY. Red sauce won’t bring enough to the table for this one. Steak, lamb or game. BBQ it if you can, but it’s not necessary. I also wouldn’t suggest cheese for this either. Only red meat. One more time….RED MEAT ONLY.

$16.04 for 2 bottles at the BevMo 5¢ Wine Sale!

$8.99 after the sale is over at Shop Rite Liquors.

Check out our other Malbec reviews:

Marraso Malbec

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Bad News First: We’ve tasted a lot of Malbec wines, mostly from Argentina, but a few from California. All of them have been able to deliver the berry jam explosion in an enormous way. The Marraso Malbec does not deliver 100%, but it delivers, we think, enough for red wine lovers (remember, we love BIG flavor). So, if you are looking for that big explosion of dark, dark berry preserves, this might not be for you. Too much oak, not enough berries, which is not usually the case with fruit in oaked wines.

Now The Good: Balance. The Marasso Malbec has balance in spades. Not too much acid, not too much fruit, not hollow, just good Malbec grapes. The oak is very obvious, which some people love. There is some raspberry jam taste to it, but it is subtle. This is a wine that should be opened and left for a bit, which adds some smoke. It should also be enjoyed now, and not aged.

With Food: Steak would destroy the Marasso Malbec, so I would veer away if you can. Red sauce, ahi tuna, mild cheeses, maybe. That said, if you HAVE to have a steak with a cheaper red wine, then this might do, but we would veer more towards the Hahn Syrah or the Domaine De La Martinelle Cotes Du Ventoux Rouge.

$9.99 at Grand Vin

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