Beringer 2009 California Collection Pinot Grigio - $4.99 Everywhere

Hit up this cheap vino for only $4.99 a bottle practically anywhere. I think they even sell it at dry cleaners. Sharp acid, strong citrus fruit (white grapefruit topped with sugar), great lemongrass backend, and a low alcohol content (only about 11%) make this the perfect Christmas lunch wine. Just as the sun starts hanging high and the most depressing start of the year inches ever-closer, pop this puppy open and smile knowing you spent the same amount on weird Uncle Mort’s Christmas present.

Estancia Zinfandel 2007 – $8.99 to $10.99 in Grocery Stores

No American holiday would be complete without a solid, cheap Zinfandel. The not as commonly found in 7-Elevens, the Estancia Zinfandel can be found in most grocery stores. This baby brings a powerful blast of ripe cherries, chocolate sauce and some stiff herb action (heh-heh) on the palate, leading to a slightly acidic but long finish. Much longer than I’m used to for a Zin under $10. Definitely pair this with either the ham or prime rib. Might be a bit too robust for the turkey, but if you’re like me on the holidays, your tastebuds will be destroyed long before the sun goes down.

Have a safe and Merry Christmas!

Cheers!

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COLOR: Cranberry juice cocktail with a little added thickness. This stuff even looks tart.

NOSE: Cranberries coming through along with a backbone of overripe cherries. Smells very fresh for a six-year-old wine.

TASTE: Those overripe cherries have corrected themselves and become stewed. We’ve also got some plums making an appearance, underscored by a nice shot of chocolate in the mid-palate. Since when does that happen in a Zinfandel?
This sucker is big and beefy. It’s like seeing a 5-foot tall 130 lb. dude walk into your garage and lift up your car. Then some black pepper finishes things off and lasts for days.
Come to think of it, this wine is pretty freaky. I’m going to stop talking about it now.

WITH FOOD: I’m too frightened at this point, so I’ll make this quick: Duck, steak, buffalo, venison and maybe even turkey (runs out of the room).

WHERE TO BUY: $13.99 at PacificWineClub.com!

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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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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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Kenwood is a solid producer out of the Sonoma Valley of California. They have many different “collections” of wine that vary in style and quality, but so far, we’ve been unable to find a bad one. The Kenwood Yulupa Zinfandel is an old vine Zinfandel, meaning the vines that produced these grapes are older than all of us.

Color

Great silky burgundy. Fresh and lively in the glass

Nose

Fig Newton cookies and blackberry juice. There is a bit of spice as well, but the figs overpower everything; ancient-smelling and delicious.

Taste

While Fig Newtons were on the nose, they are not in the flavor of the wine. The figs are more concentrated, similar to fig preserves or even pickled figs. Seriously, this wine is fig-tastic; more than any other red wine we’ve tasted. Though only a few years old, the flavor of figs overpowered everything. Great tannins balance them out, with every other fruit smothered. We don’t like the finish, as it’s rather abrupt and a bit of a tease given the delicious smell and flavor.

With Food

Great fruit and cheese wine. At this price point, this could be an end-of-the-evening wine served with figs (duh), peaches, apple, cherries and some hard, smelly cheeses like Manchego or an aged cheddar. Avoid the creamy cheeses. If you want it with a meal, stone fruit-roasted chicken, pork, lamb or especially TURKEY would be ideal. A great Thanksgiving wine.

$9.31 at InternetWines.com!

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Cline is a popular producer in the Sonoma region of California. Their Zinfandel is one of their most popular varietals and it’s definitely worth a bottle at this price.

Color

Rich, dark cherry juice. Still thin, but it’s only an ’07.

Nose

Peppery with a nice clear shot of vanilla. The fruit is not coming through very much, making the nose a bit lackluster.

Taste

Here’s some of the fruit: black cherries, blackberries, and a touch of–if you can believe this–rhubarb. The rhubarb i’s what provides the sour and bitter, and it’s rather off-putting. Vanilla on the mid-palate, which gets a bit heavy-handed. Finally, pepper is back with a vengeance and takes a comfy seat in the finish. Overall, not a bad effort, but far too young for drinking now. Leave it in the closet for a year at least.

With Food

Nothing right now, but when the time is right, grilled steak or lamb. Steak au poivre would be perfect, along with some stinky cheeses.

$7.99 at GarysWine.com!

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With the 4th of July holiday fast approaching, and the BevMo 5¢ Wine Sale still going strong, we are going to steer you toward some great BBQ wines for the remainder of the week. The 4th of July is of course, along with Memorial Day, one of the biggest BBQ holidays America has.

Zinfandel, along with Syrah, Cabernet and Malbec, makes a fantastic BBQ wine, and might just even be the best. Not to be confused with White Zinfandel, though they both come from the same grape, red Zinfandel could be called “California’s Wine,” since the best Zinfandels in the world tend to come from Cali. Italy is really the only other region that produces good Zins (the Puglia region specifically) but California Zinfandel accounts for the majority of Zinfandel wine produced. The Zinfandel grape is also known as Primitivo in some circles.

The Zynthesis Zinfandel is what is known as an “Old Vine” Zinfandel, which is pretty self-explanatory. The important thing to remember is that Old Vine Zinfandels tend to be more concentrated, potent and explosive. Since the vines are so old (ancient in some cases), they are able to ripen with a much higher concentration of fruit flavor, making the wine able to stand up to the fiercest of steaks.

With that, let’s get into the Zynthesis Old Vine Zinfandel 2007 from Lodi.

Good News: Deep, rich red color, as is common in Zinfandels, with a strong stewed fruit scent. Give it a minute to open up in the glass (or through decanting) and you will find juicy black plums, cedar, and raisin smells. In fact, mix all of those together in a pot of boiling port wine and throw in some cloves. That’s the smell. Starting to understand why this is good for BBQ yet?

Now, many of the wines we have reviewed differ greatly between the nose and the actual taste, but the Zynthesis Zinfandel does not. A very full mouthfeel with even-handed tannins and a silky finish. The tannins won’t turn your tongue into leather because the fruit is powerful enough to balance them. The plums, raisins, cedar, and even a bit of smoke all meld together and make you want to literally chew the wine. Chewy wines are some of our favorites, and we haven’t referred to many of the reds we have reviewed as “chewy” yet, so this is really a find.

With Food: Duh. BBQ, BBQ, BBQ. The one thing we will tell you to avoid is barbecued fish. The Zynthesis Zinfandel and grilled fish just don’t match very well because of the fish aftertaste. There is nothing in the wine to combat that and it will leave a rather unpleasent flavor combination in your mouth. But, who are we to tell you what to do?

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

$11.99 at Sea Grape Wines after the sale.

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