I’ll be honest, I was surprised at the results of the poll. I had not pegged these two wines as the winners, though I did enjoy them. Since this poll has been going on for nearly a month now, I’m not going to write a big hulaballoo post here. Too excited to just get to the winners. And here they are.

Best White Wine of 2010

Chateau Ballan-Larquette Bordeaux Rose 2009

I liked this wine from the start. The strawberry, the crispness, the slight thickness. This was a wine built for food. Altogether a delicious wine that rings in at just under $10. A great, great buy.

Best Red Wine of 2010

Montevina Barbera 2008

A sleeper of a wine that appeared on my radar in September. It won the gold medal at the Los Angeles International Wine Competition, and with good reason. Velvet cola, caramel, red fruit, and the most intoxicating finish I’ve experienced in a red wine in quite awhile. All this from a California Barbera. Amazing, amazing wine and only $9.99.

So there you have it, folks. The best wines as voted on by the readers and by our tasting back in early December. Overall it’s been a blast choosing the best out of all the brilliant wines under $20 I’ve had the good fortune of tasting throughout the year. I look forward to doing it again next year, and I hope even more of you will get involved!

Cheers!

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Roses are usually at one of two extremes: Way too light to the point of sweet water (think White Zinfandel: Ugh) or far too strong so that you are robbed of the bouncy fruit and crisp, acidic sweetness. For the roses that are too dark (like Syrah roses or many from California) I sometimes feel cheated. They make me think the fruit that went into them just wasn’t up to snuff for a red wine. For my palate, a rose should be what it’s name suggests: Rose-colored. Not cranberry juice or a light pink water.

The Ballan-Larquette Rose is neither of those. 45% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 15% Cabernet Franc. It’s balanced and delicious, and because of that, it is a strong contender for our Best of 2010 voting/tasting. Read on to see why and be sure to pick up a bottle ASAP.

Color

Proper pink. Nothing too light or too dark.

Nose

Strawberry fields. Not just strawberries, but the dirt and dust that you smell along with them in the fields on a hot day. Some freshly cut cherry as well.

Taste

Medium-bodied, not too light, which I like very much. Very good fruit on the attack, the strawberry and cherry flavors from the nose are intact and give a nice brightness to the wine. There is a hint of sweetness as well, but not too much that you wouldn’t want to enjoy this with something more savory. The barnyard is present as well in this in the form of a soil and stink element that is tough to pin down. Great finish with a pleasing dryness.

With Food

A very versatile food wine. I’ve most often had roses with chicken or salads that have fruit in them. One of the best pairings has been with a chicken and berry salad. Any berry will work, though I’d aim for strawberries. I light vinegarette with some garlic in it will help. For some reason I’ve always found that strawberries and garlic go well together. I probably just made all chefs everywhere cringe.

Where to Buy

$9.99 at BevMo or BevMo.com!

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• They didn’t call it a “Meritage”
• Syrah is not regarded as one of the “Noble Grapes”

Speaking of Meritage, the Meritage Association has a fun and informative site worth checking out: http://www.meritagewine.org/home

At any rate, if someone could leave a comment or contact me regarding information on the rules, it would be much-appreciated. Now let’s get into the wine.

Color

Stiff, thick purple. Nothing light in this baby, and seeing as it’s hot as hell out there right now, I should apologize for reviewing it at this time. That said, save this for after sundown.

Nose

Oak, creamy vanilla and very fruit-forward. Lot’s of blackcurrant and even some prune. The wine was aged in American Oak for 23 months, which was very smart on the winemaker’s part (I’m sure he’s looking for my novice approval) because if it had been French Oak, this baby would have been a BEAST.

Taste

The fruit explodes here and almost overdoes it, but the alcohol is present enough to back it up. 2007 was a late year, meaning much of the fruit in Northern California had to stay on the vine longer than usual in order to achieve maximum maturity. This tardiness on the part of the fruit makes this wine great, not only because it ripened a bit more, but because the vines didn’t have it easy, thereby making the fruit more concentrated. The wine is your standard office building: straight-up structure, nothing flashy, and it really serves it’s purpose well. The American Oak comes in to finish off the deep prune and blackberry flavors with a little creamy smoke.

With Food

I see this wine as not over-the-top when it comes to fruit, despite the explosion mentioned above, so I think it would do well with something Provencal or stewed. I wouldn’t pair this with barbecued foods or cheese. Lamb stews, Coq au Vin, or something similar.

Where to Buy

$10.96 at WinesThatWork.com!

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COLOR: Well, it’s nice, but nothing to write home about. It’s the color of red wine. Maybe I should just get rid of this category.

NOSE: Tart, tart red fruit on this Merlot. Almost unripe. It isn’t very pleasant. After decanting for about an hour it began to give off more ripe cherry and perfumey smells.

TASTE: Good attack at first with the tart fruit coming through and melting into a nice shot of dark chocolate. However, the bitterness/unripe flavors are a bit off-putting, to the point that my jaw was screaming for me to spit it out or swallow. Still, it lingers a bit, and the alcohol is not setting everything on fire, which is always nice.

But we have to call a spade a spade here: This wine is DU-HU-HULL. Not exciting or enticing at all. A giant nap of a wine. You may find yourself thinking, “Well, it’s open, and I wanted wine, so I guess I’ll drink it.” Still, this is $9.99 Merlot here, folks. You should at least give it a try and see what you think.

WITH FOOD: Nothing says dull and boring like a rice cake!

WHERE TO BUY: $9.99 at BevMo!

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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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A MUST BUY. Though the label may look like it was drawn by a 14-year-old girl, this wine kicked serious ass (and it’s $13!). We stumbled upon the Bocage Merlot while traveling through Salinas and the Monterey area, home of John Steinbeck. We realize that you readers probably have absolutely zero interest in John Steinbeck, or the museum we visited in Monterey that bears his name, so let’s just pretend we didn’t mention it at all.

COLOR: Inky purple with a blue tint to it when you tilt against a frosted lamp with a 60 watt bulb. I’m serious, you need to follow those instructions exactly.

NOSE: Crack open a can of black olives and throw some dried blueberries and chocolate on them. Shake it up and take a whiff. If you don’t throw up, that’s what the nose is like.

TASTE: Absolutely scrumptious. We don’t use that word too often, but this wine is very complex and very satisfying. We didn’t finish that first day and came back to it 2 days later, and it had taken on even more flavor. Silky and balanced, this wine brings seriously ripe fruit that conjures leather, blueberry, big black olives (which I hate, though they were good here), with a great shot of dark chocolate in the mid-palate. The finish is bland at first, but give it a moment and you will be rewarded with an aftertaste similar to finishing a pizza with only black olives. Something about the finish made me think of browned mozzarella, pizza dough, tomato sauce and black olives. Who knows why I think of these things? Stop staring at me!

WITH FOOD: Great pizza wine, let me first say that, but we had it with mushroom ravioli and spaghetti bolognese. I see no reason to suggest anything other than those items.

WHERE TO BUY: $10.99 at CAWineClub.com or $12.95 direct from San Saba Vineyards OR $13 from A Taste of Monterey!

SPECIAL NOTE: Thanks to the dude at A Taste of Monterey who suggested we shouldn’t pass it up at $13. Despite it not even being on their tasting menu, something told me that it would be good, that something being that dude.

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The Montpellier Merlot was another find at Cost Plus World Market. We were trying to see if we could pick up three bottles for under $20, and we just about did it. The Cycles Gladiator Pinot Noir was another of the three, and the third is still to come. The Montepellier Merlot is unlike any of the other red wines we’ve ever had for one reason: It gets worse with air.

That’s like saying raising a kid gets easier as they enter the teen years.

We always recommend that you decant every single red wine, no matter how cheap. Two Buck Chuck? Throw it into that decanter and you might get an extra two bucks worth of flavor out of it.

But not the Montpellier Merlot. This wine actually increased in bitterness and lost all of its fruit once it had been opened and decanted. The reason I know this is because we popped the bottle, and enjoyed a taste. Delicious. We were looking forward to the fruit blooming even more and the earthy tones becoming more pronounced once it had sat in the decanter for an hour.

Our mistake. Here we go:

COLOR: Fair but still enticing. The wine exudes a kind of unfiltered quality and deep burgundy in the color.

NOSE: Blueberries with red sour gumballs. Sugar and earth. The dirt is palpable.

TASTE #1 (Just opened): Beautiful, ripe blueberries with sour blackcurrant and a good shot of milk chocolate right in the middle. Good finish with structure and tongue-drying tannins. Soil flavor left as a delicious reminder of the varietal.

TASTE #2 (Decanted): Vinegar and figs. Honestly, that’s all I can say. This wine lost its oomph through decanting. WTF? The structure was gone, the fruit withered and the finish was like a spoiled white wine. Obviously drink it immediately after opening.

WITH FOOD: Well, seeing as how you need to drink it right after popping it, we would suggest you wait until your appetizer of grapes and hard stinky cheese is ready. For a meal, try a decent pizza with some linguica or salami on it, or pair it with a good cut of lamb or perhaps even a nice duck with field greens and some orange peel.

WHERE TO BUY: $6.19 on sale at LowestWinePrices.com!

or

About $6.99 at Cost Plus World Market (In store only)!

Check out our other Merlot reviews!

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Ahhh, Christmas time. When you’re a kid it’s all about presents. When you’re a teenager it’s all about presents and no school. When you’re an adult, it’s all about no work and food.

Which is where we come in.

That’s right, we’re reviewing some Christmas wines for you at Wine Welfare. These two reds and two whites are sure to pair perfectly with whatever fattening grub you’re throwing on that table this year. So light a nice warm fire, cozy up next to that Christmas tree, and enjoy your family becoming slightly blurry as you polish off a bottle of one of these wines with your favorite uncle.

Neyers 2006 Zinfandel Pato Ranch – $17.98 at WineLibrary.com or available at most wine stores or BevMo!

The Holidays are not complete without a delicious California Zinfandel. Sure, you could go with a Primitivo (basically Zinfandel in Italy), but American Thanksgivings and Christmases tend to call for the big, juicy California fruit bomb that is Zinfandel.

Neyers is one of California’s best wineries, working out of Sage Canyon in the Napa Valley. They are consistently earning 90-point scores and astounding wine-lovers everywhere. Their Pato Ranch Zinfandel is no exception, with delicious tobacco and cherry flavors swirling around a foundation of moist, stinky soil. Sounds good, right? Trust us, this should be on your table with that turkey or prime rib, especially at this price.

Marquis Philips Sarah’s Blend – $11.99 at WineAnthology.com or at BevMo!

Never even heard of this one before we tasted it, but the Marquis Philips Sarah’s Blend is both delicious and available in most wine stores. Deep, dark opaque color, like ink-infused Welch’s grape juice. The grapes keep coming as well, in the form of Nerds candy flavors. This is an Australian Bordeaux blend: Shiraz, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Chocolate and plum jam come through like gangbusters, but the acid fights back to balance it all, leading to a cakey, long finish. Delicious with duck.

Big House White – $6.99 at WineLibrary.com or available pretty much everywhere!

Shockingly good for less than seven bucks. The Big House White is a rather odd blend of Malvasia Bianca, Muscat Canelli, Viognier and Rousanne. We’d never had any blend like it before, but this didn’t mess around. The funny thing is, you can taste elements of all of those varietals, but you taste more flavors of varietals that are not in the wine. Chenin Blanc, Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay (big time, buttery and creamy) and the like. Big pina colada flavors and spiced apples. Serve this one only slightly chilled before the meal or with appetizers. Might not hold up to the likes of turkey, gravy and stuffing.

Fleur Des Pins Graves Sauternes – $12.98 at WineLibrary.com!

If you’ve never had a Sauternes, now is the time to try one. Holiday sweets go magnificently well with Sauternes, no matter if they’re cookies, cakes or candy. Sauternes makes everything better. We’ll go into more detail about Sauternes later on, but for right now, if you can’t find the Fleur Des Pins Graves, just pick up any one you can find. You may find it difficult to locate one under $20 (we did), but rest assured, even a $30 375ml bottle of this stuff will put a smile on your face. This is solid 50/50 Bar, with delicious lemon picking up as well. Very sweet, but with that smokey characteristic often found in botrytis wines (moldy grapes; again, more on this later). The result is you enjoying a magnificent flavor explosion and then passing out on the couch watching A Christmas Story. ‘Tis the season.

One last thing and, we didn’t really want to mention anything because we’re so embarrassed, but…well, this is post number 100 for us here at Wine Welfare. That’s all we’re going to say. Feel free to maybe, we don’t know, leave a comment, compliment or congratulate us. Whatever you like. Really. We don’t need validation or anything. But one last time, just to clarify:

100 POSTS!!! WOO HOOOO!!!!

So that’s it. We sincerely hope you check out at least one of these four bad boys, and slap some serious enjoyment onto that Christmas of yours.

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Happy Holidays and Cheers!

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A Spanish Table Wine consisting of 45% Monastrell, 25% Tempranillo, and finished off by Syrah, Garnacha, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Color

Deep and inky. Looks delicious and rather heady for a table wine. Very intense.

Nose

The intensity continues on the nose and blasts you with a strange concoction of smells. Heavy, heavy smoke, Maine blueberries, and spiced wood. This is no ordinary table wine.

Taste

The smoke is very present still in the flavor. Aged six months in French and American oak, the wine gives off a bit too much wood. However, the layers are balanced and very very ripe. Blackberry cobbler and rich stewed cherries. The finish is long and clean with the acid lasting all the way. Basically, the wine totally overdoes it.

With Food

Red sauce, lamb, beef, ostrich, the usual suspects. Also, for a table wine, it would work on it’s own as a tasty party wine. This wine goes on forever.

$8.99 at WineLibrary.com!

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You’re Recommending a Non-Chardonnay Kendall-Jackson?

Indeed we are. Kendall Jackson Chardonnay is how a lot of people first started drinking that was higher quality than the jug wines or White Zinfandels they were used to. Kendall Jackson still makes a killing with their Chardonnay in every vintage, and is one of the best-selling Chardonnays in history. They practically mailed samples of the stuff to suburban homes back in the nineties as a requirement to drink. So because of this, we feel like we don’t really have to say anything. To us, it would be like recommending gasoline for your car.

Therefore, without further or do, we bring you the Kendall Jackson Meritage 2003. This is a plush blended wine (“Meritage” means “Blend”) in the Bordeaux style. Remember, a Bordeaux wine can only consist of the following five grape varietals: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Frank, Merlot, Malbec and Petit Verdot. The Kendall Jackson Meritage contains three out of the five: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot.

Bad News First

The wine tastes fake. That’s as bluntly as we can put it. Kendall Jackson has been around for so long and has to bottle such large amounts of their wine to get them into thousands of grocery stores, that some of their wines taste “rushed.”

There were flavors in this juice at some point in time, but we’re guessing that they ran out of time and so had to fake a few tastes to make the wine more tasty, palatable and pleasing to the public. One such method would be to over-oak the wine, as this certainly is. If you are not into the super-California-style wines or vanilla oak elements in red wine, stay away.

Basically, there are better, hearty red wines available for less money. the Hahn Syrah for one.

Good News

Color: Rich, red garnet. The color is pleasing and makes you want to get to drinking.

Nose: Very dark cherries and oaken vanilla. The oak really does bash you right in the face here. You might also pick up hints of earth; wet earth. Rainy mornings on a redwood deck.

Taste: We have the oak again, and man oh man is it in the front. It dominates every other flavor, turning this wine into a bowl of vanilla ice cream topped off with some cedar chips and some vanilla extract. Did we mention vanilla? The deep, dark cherries complete themselves from nose to taste here, it’s virtually the only fruit you will get, depending on what you might be eating. Weak tannins, so there is the slightest hint of dryness, but given the varietals blended here, there should be much much more. So if you are into New World styles, and especially California New World, you might want to give this a whirl.

With Food

Strong cheeses or fruit, perhaps red berries or cherries. Normally, blends such as these work well with red meats or even red sauces, but given the weak structure and tannins, it just won’t hold up. Take it easy with this one.

Only $12 at Winerz.com! (Yes, we know it is slightly cheaper on other sites, but this one looked like they could actually ship it to you rather than tying it to a pigeon and hoping for the best. We’re always looking out for you.)

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Well, now that all of the 4th of July hoopla is over with, we can get back into some good ol’ deals on delicious wines! Let’s start this middle of summer rally with another great BBQ wine. This is a French red, specifically Bordeaux, with a lot of heart: The christian Moueix Merlot 2005, which is pretty much known for being one of the best vintages in history for Bordeaux wines.

Most people would not think of a Bordeaux as a BBQ wine, but, let’s face it, when it comes to barbecue, nothing says it like steaks.

Good News Only: So there you sit, munching on your T-bone or Porterhouse or Filet Mignon or Flank Steak and you’re drinking a beer. Try that steak on with a glass of this stuff instead! The Christian Moueix Merlot comes at you with great blackberry, raspberry and roasted plums (bet you never thought of doing that!). The nose is what it should be from a Bordeaux wine: manure. Now some people might be put off by a wine that smells like…well, poop, but just try it with a bite of your grilled steak. It doesn’t matter what cut of beef it is, if it’s from a cow, it will work beautifully. The wine just drinks very well, even for hot weather. The fruit comes through and the alcohol is there to back it up with a nice finish that is not too warm. Leather and prunes finish off the taste, and the wine will last long enough in your mouth to merit two bites.

With Food: Steak, steak and more steak. Did we mention steak? This will also work with hamburgers, particularly if you like mustard on them (something just happens when you add a little mustard flavor on your tongue with this wine).

$13.04 for 2 at the BevMo 5¢ Wine Sale!

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BevMo’s 5¢ Wine Sale is still going strong! Today we have found the brilliant Michael Pozzan Merlot Special Reserve 2006 for you.

Good News: This wine displays all of the classic flavors that you should expect from a Merlot. Michael Pozzan wines are often on special at BevMo, and they are always top-notch. The Michael Pozzan Merlot Special Reserve is 97% Merlot and 3% Cabernet Sauvignon. This wine is silky, silky, silky. Great blueberry and blackberry on the nose. The immediate flavor is exactly what we look for in a Merlot: boysenberry syrup. Since the wine is fairly young, the tannins are there, but not as full as we like them. This thing could sit for a couple more years and be even better, though we know how difficult it is to store the stuff for any length of time (if it’s that good, it’s too tempting). There is quite a bit of oak here, which lends the typical vanilla flavors to the finish, but it is not overpowering. Good balance of alcohol and the finish stays silky for a good length of time.

With Food: Merlot is pretty versatile. You can enjoy it with pretty much anything except seafood. Red sauce, white sauce, chicken, steak, burgers, pizza, etc. BBQ is better with a stiffer wine, like Syrah, Zinfandel, Malbec or Cabernet, but this should hold up (as long as you don’t like your steaks burnt to a black crisp). And, as usual, a wide array of fruits and cheeses would work here, but don’t go too pungent with the cheese; the less stinky, the better.

$17.04 for 2 at the BevMo 5¢ Wine Sale!

$10.98 for 1 bottle after the sale is over at HopsandGrapes.com.

Check out our other Merlot reviews:

Kenwood Jack London Merlot (also on sale at the BevMo 5¢ Wine Sale!)

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Hallelujah, the BevMo 5¢ Wine Sale is back! While the sale is on, you might see one or two wines posted on here that are close to $40 a bottle because (we’re terrible at math so we could be wrong here) you can buy one bottle at regular price and the second one is 5-freaking-cents. You can even get these same deals online!

So, let’s get it on here with some serious, bruising, magnificent wines. Every review of wines from the sale will be positive. We’re not going to waste time talking about bad wines when other ones are this cheap. You won’t see many of these again until the next BevMo 5¢ Wine Sale, so take advantage.

Good News: The 2005 Kenwood Merlot from the Jack London Vineyard is nearly perfect. This is a hefty Merlot that conveys the classic flavors, but with a little more punch. Dark, dark fruit. In particular, blackberry, boysenberry  and dark dark cherry. Normally Merlot has more blueberry floating around, but they are benched in this bottle. The middle of the wine is pure mint-chocolate (yes, we said mint). To be clear, not mint leaves, not peppermint candies, not spearmint gum…mint. chocolate. Think those Andes mints that they give you at the Olive Garden: little wafers that are half chocolate and half green mint. Tail end is black pepper.

With Food: Can’t you guess? Hit the steak with this one, definitely, but also keep in mind that with the mint aspect, a tomato sauce with basil will also do the trick. Caprese salad or appetizer would also work. Don’t season the steak too much, just a little pepper to match.

$29.99 at—no, no, no…wait for it…..2 for $30.04 at the BevMo 5¢ Wine Sale!

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