Grocery Wine » Buy It

John’s Blend Cabernet Sauvignon

Phil — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 05:54:13 +0000

Two words on this one: wow! Alright, disclosure time: 1. “wow” is not two words. 2. This isn’t really a grocery wine (unless your local grocery store is in an extremely well heeled area of Australia). We managed to obtain a babysitter awhile back and while sniffing around for a new restaurant to try out I came across a reference to a members only club in downtown San Diego. On a whim, I picked up the phone and asked if I could come in for dinner. After bouncing around to a few people on the phone the director of member services agreed to leave some guest passes for us with the hostess. Sweet! When we arrived, I was surprised to discover a jacket was required. Huh? Listen, you might think this makes sense what with the members only thing but this is San Diego. Dressing up here means wearing shoes instead of flip flops. Luckily, they had a very nice jacket available for me, which although it was three sizes too big, definitely lent an air of respectability to Amy and I, which was needed since all of the other patrons were old enough to be our parents.

Now that we were dressed up we realized we would have to take our dining selections and most importantly our wine selection up a notch. “Waiter! Please send over the sommelier!” The sommelier turned out to be a very cool guy who had recently returned from a tasting trip to Australia. “Australian cabs are where it’s at! And by the way, I know a tailor who can help you out with that jacket…”

The John’s Blend Cabernet Sauvignon was selected so we rolled up our sleeves (literally in my case) and got to work. Again, two words: wow! Some hints of chocolate and mint were unexpected but awesome. Overall, extremely smooth and drinkable and a great pairing with our steaks. The restaurant’s price was $80, which definitely puts it outside our standard price range, but since I’d already got a free jacket out of the meal we felt like we could splurge.

I have no idea where this might be available here in the states (other than at select members only restaurants) but if you spot it somewhere please let us know. Even at $80 I would buy it again in a heartbeat!

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.

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: 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: Edmeades Zinfandel – Buy It!

Phil — Fri, 22 May 2009 19:36:12 +0000

Like an old friend you can count on in a pinch, we turned to the Edmeades Zinfandel after the Rijckaert Chardonnay debacle. This California wine has become our favorite zin of late, the one which all other zins are being judged by. Very tasty and goes with any meal we’ve throw at it (confession: after the kids were in bed there was still some left and we wanted to watch a DVD, and you can’t watch a movie without popcorn right? Orville Redenbacher Movie Theater Butter + Zin = Yum!). At $14 this Costco wine is definitely money well spent, especially if you like Zinfandel.

Note: As usual the industry big wigs are following our lead. Food And Wine reviewed the Edmeades zin and named it their #1 zin for under $20 (never mind the fact their article is from 2008 and this review is from mid 2009, I swear they copied us!) . You can read their take as well as see their other winners here.

Also of note: If you can’t buy Edmeades at your local grocery or Costco you can buy it directly from them at their website www.edmeades.com.

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.

Review: Gloria Ferrer Sonoma Brut Champagne – Buy It!

Phil — Mon, 18 May 2009 19:56:08 +0000

Mmmm, my taste buds are watering just thinking about Gloria Ferrer champagne. It’s one of our all time favorite grocery store finds (and occasionally makes an appearance at Costco). Always under $20 and we’ve snagged it on sale at Vons for under $15. It’s a delicious sparkling wine which is such a good deal we have no qualms breaking it out for even the most minor celebrations. Listed below are four of the reasons we’ve used to break out the bubbly:

1. We’ve survived another day in this insane economy! Let’s celebrate!

2. Prohibition has been over since 1933! Let’s celebrate!

3. Said to a significant other while serving the champagne and looking deep into his/her eyes: “What’s the occasion? The fact that you an I are here together is reason enough for me to celebrate.” Note: this is most effective the first time it’s used. I once tried it four days in a row and it seemed to have diminishing returns (although Amy never did turn down the champagne…)

4. And my all time favorite which you can feel free to use in a pinch: Hooray! We have a bottle of champagne chilling in the fridge! Let’s celebrate!

And just to get this out of the way: Gloria Ferrer is technically a California “sparkling wine” not champagne. The good people of the French province of Champagne have waged a serious and expensive effort to make sure everyone is aware champagne can only come from Champagne and who am I to thumb my nose at the French and intentionally call Gloria Ferrer champagne?

(Hey Frenchies: Gloria Ferrer champagne, champagne champagne! Ha! Ha! Ha!)

Update: Turns out we’re not the only ones who love this. Wine Spectator gave this a 90 point rating back in 2006. The Gloria Ferrer site lists some of their other accolades: www.gloriaferrer.com