Grocery Wine » White

Review: Barefoot Pinot Grigio – Summertime!

Phil — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 23:28:40 +0000

“A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken.” -James Dent

We’ve got a couple of requirements for wine on a summer afternoon: cold, refreshing, unfussy and in our glass. As the day winds down We’re not interested in seeing how a wine’s “bouquet matures”. We’re more concerned with seeing how it helps a great afternoon mature into a great evening.

Although, Barefoot Wines are fairly commonplace and have a loyal following we’d never tasted one. For whatever reason the big footprint on the label always struck us as being a bit tacky. This plus the relatively cheap price combined to convince us this wine wasn’t worth our time. Recently though We’d had a number of people independently recommend a Barefoot wine and when we saw Safeway (aka Vons) had it on sale for a super cheap $5.50 (regularly $7.50) We decided to take the plunge. The reward was a delicious glass of Pinot Grigio which embodies everything we look for in a summer wine. A light acidity cut through the summer heat, delivering cool hints of honey and lemon and perhaps some green apple. Suddenly, I found myself energized enough to leap from my chair, stride boldly across the patio, take hold of the lawnmower and fling it out of the way as I called loudly into the house for someone to refill my glass immediately!

p.s. Turns out Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher, wine columnists at the Wall Street Journal, agree with our recommendation. The Barefoot Pinot Grigio was featured in a recent column. You can read it here.

You must chill! Serving Wine At The Right Temperature

Phil — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 19:31:14 +0000

Just came across an easy wine tip for serving wine at the right temperature: “Twenty minutes before dinner, you take the white wine out of the fridge, and put the red wine in.” says Ursula Hermacinski, a wine auctioneer formerly of Christie’s. I’ve heard from a number of sources that most people serve their red wine too warm and their whites too cold. According to those in the know reds should be served at “cellar temperature” or approximately 65 degrees. Since most of our wine cellar’s are still in the planning stages (I just can’t decide what color marble coordinates best with the chandeliers!) our reds are usually served at room temperature. Conversely, we serve most white’s straight out of the fridge which is considered to be so cold it blunts some of the flavors. Thanks to Borracha’s Wine Blog for this handy tip!

(And thanks to “Say AnythingSay Anything” for being an awesome movie and providing the perfect title for this post!)

Burgers and Wine – Grilling and Grapes

Phil — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 18:04:46 +0000

In our house the 4th of July means burgers will be hitting the grill. With that decided we can devote all of our energy to determining what wines to have with dinner. Usually, I’d stay up late for months trying to come up with the perfect pairing for our burgers (not really), tasting thousands of wines (I wish), eating hundreds of burgers (no comment). This year though my fine friends over at Wine Spectator agreed to my request to write a couple of articles on the subject (I actually never spoke with them but I was thinking about it and then the articles were there so I still say it was my idea). Included on their list of wines for the 4th are a few grocery store staples which you should have no trouble finding at the local Safeway, Kroger, Vons, Ralphs, etc. Best of all there are a number of relatively cheap wines on the list with reds ranging in price from $11-$16 and whites from $9-$12. Listed below are our picks from the Wine Spectator articles. Enjoy and happy 4th!

Cabernet Sauvignons (from “Burgers and Red Wine for July Fourth” by Laurie Woolever at Wine Spectator)

COLUMBIA CREST Cabernet Sauvignon Columbia Valley Grand Estates $11
CHATEAU STE. MICHELLE Cabernet Sauvignon Columbia Valley $16
RANCHO ZABACO Cabernet Sauvignon California Dancing Bull Winemaker’s Reserve $12
BOGLE Cabernet Sauvignon California $11

Two White Options (from “Cooking Up a Fourth of July Feast” by Laurie Woolever at Wine Spectator)
HOGUE Pinot Grigio Columbia Valley $9
GEYSER PEAK Sauvignon Blanc California $12

Review: Roederer Estate Brut Champagne

Phil — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 17:41:34 +0000

Do you usually drink Cristal Champagne but darn it the grocery store doesn’t carry it? Never fear! Both Costco and Vons currently have the excellent Roederer Estate Brut Champagne (technically, a sparkling wine) which is made by the same family that makes Cristal. And although the price of Cristal is of no concern for you and I ($300 a bottle? Well shoot, just give me the whole case!) this great California wine is a bit cheaper slipping in at $20 at Costco and on sale at Safeway (aka Vons) for $20.83. Roederer is a long time favorite of ours and we were thrilled to find it becoming more readily available. We rushed home from the store and tossed it in the freezer to quickly chill it (a little research reveals this is a terrible idea but hey it worked for us). The question then became how long do we need to leave it in there for. Amy was the first to crack, at the 40 minute mark she suggested we take it out.

“What if it’s not cold enough yet?” I asked.

She responded, “Then I’ll say: It even tastes good warm!”

Lucky for us it was plenty cold and we didn’t have to test the taste of tepid Champagne.

Review: La Crema Chardonnay – Buy It!

Phil — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 23:24:20 +0000

The La Crema Chardonnay is part of the problem. Here’s the funny thing, if you asked us if we prefer reds or whites we’d say “reds” without hesitation. But as I look at which wines we’re reviewing the white’s section is definitely filling out much more quickly than the reds. Awesome California Chardonnay like La Crema take a good chunk of the blame. With a price just under $16 (on sale) this wine’s not as cheap as some wines but the end result is a buttery wine with just enough sweetness to allow it to be paired with food or to enjoy on it’s own. This one can be found at most grocery stores (Vons, Ralphs, Kroger, Safeway) and at Costco. Vons currently has the La Crema Chardonnay on sale until June 24th.

Top 5 Grocery Wines for the Week

Phil — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 23:11:50 +0000

It’s Friday and what better way to celebrate than by swinging by the grocery store on your way home and picking up a bottle or five of wine. Listed below are our picks for the week.

Champagne – Gloria Ferrer (on sale $15.98 at Safeway / Vons until 6/10)
Chardonnay – Bogle (on sale $8.98 at Safeway / Vons until 6/24)
Sauvignon Blanc – Dry Creek Vineyard (available at Safeway / Vons)
Cabernet Sauvignon – BV (on sale $7.76 at Safeway / Vons until 6/10)
Zinfandel – Edmeades (Costco)

Review: Dry Creek Vineyard Fume Blanc – Buy It!

Phil — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 18:50:11 +0000

Warning this wine could cause relationship issues! Read on for details, but first a quick tangent: A couple of years ago we were out to dinner with some friends and our waitress recommended a wine to us. Very excited about the wine, the waitress came back seconds after pouring it asking how we liked it. Someone mumbled something about it and the waitress said “It’s really friendly right? I love it!”. From then on describing a wine as “friendly” became a running joke. Who’s going to argue if you say a wine is “friendly”? It’s the perfect non-opinion! Well, we popped open Dry Creek Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc (aka Fume Blanc) and after a bit Amy decreed ”I like it! This is in all seriousness a friendly wine. Very good!”. This California wine is very easy to drink and is definitely worth picking up at your local grocery store (we got it at Vons/Safeway), particularly when it’s on sale for under $13.

But then it happened. From out of nowhere Amy said “I think I like this as well as the Kim Crawford”. As well as the Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc? Are you kidding me? It’s good and variety never hurt anyone but come on! Voices were raised, fingers pointed, old skeletons trotted out: “You used to drink wine coolers!”, bottles were thrown (after we drank their contents of course). The end result, sometime in the near future we’ll post a Sauvignon Blanc shootout and resolve this once and for all. Stay tuned and feel free to sound off in the comments!

Review: Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc

Phil — Sat, 23 May 2009 22:21:00 +0000

Summer is here (even if the calendar still shows it being a month away). And with summer comes warm weather, and with warm weather comes a desire to put off running the air conditioner for as long as possible, and with no a/c comes a house which is broiling by evening, and with broiling comes a need for a cool refreshing drink. Some might say water is a logical choice but those people have clearly never had a tall cool glass of Kim Crawford.

This New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc does just about everything right. At the time of this posting this is currently our favorite white (not counting Champagne of course). Currently under $15 at Costco this wine is a great deal. Amy actually got a little Wine Spectatorish on us and jotted down the following notes:

“Perfect balance of minerals, grass and fruit. Light and refreshing. Good on its own or served with mac and cheese.”

Well, maybe that last sentence wouldn’t have been in the wine spectator review…

Review: Rijckaert Chardonnay – Blech!

Phil — Fri, 22 May 2009 18:33:41 +0000

We’ll keep this short and not so sweet. Amy’s review “This wine stinks, literally!” Hopefully, there was something wrong with the bottle. There was definitely an unpleasant “cooked cabbage” odor happening. At $15 from Costco it was definitely a disappointment. As ever though, Costco rules. We returned the half empty bottle for a full refund (which we promptly invested in the always delicious Edmeades zinfandel. If you’ve tried the Rijckaert chardonnay and had a better result than us definitely drop a note in the comments and *maybe* we’ll give it another try.

Review: Sea Ridge Chardonnay – 100% Drinkable!

Phil — Tue, 19 May 2009 21:32:00 +0000

You’ve probably spotted this one on the bottom shelf at your local grocery store with a price somewhere under $4. Four dollar wine? I figured there was a decent chance I might go blind from drinking the cheap stuff but in the name of science (and cheapskatedness) I thought I’d give it a try. Because of the inherent danger involved in drinking this stuff I thought it prudent to slip Amy the first glass (who’d update Grocery Wine if I didn’t survive?). Here’s how it went down:

Phil: Hey honey, want a glass of chardonnay?
Amy: Sure, what kind is it?
Phil: Sea Ridge Chardonnay
Amy: Is it supposed to be good?
Phil: Did you hear Lithuania elected its first female president?

The final verdict: Surprisingly drinkable! It’s definitely sweeter than you’d expect from a chardonnay but still tasty. Perhaps the perfect wine for sipping on the patio or deck on a hot summer day. Give it a try and let us know your thoughts in the comments.