The Wine Times

$12.99

Another winner for sauvignon blanc lovers who enjoy the fruitier side of life. This wine heralds from the Touraine region of the Loire valley, which produces a lot of delicious, affordable sauvignon blanc that in this price range tends to be less austere than its cousins in Sancerre and much less rich than the nearby Pouilly Fume. It’s very tangy and fruit-forward, with quite a bit of grapefruit both on the nose and going down. However, it’s not nearly as acidic and grapefruit-heavy as many of the sauvignon blancs we’ve come to know from New Zealand (and sometimes Australia and South Africa). This may well be due the the fact that it’s tempered with 10% chardonnay. All-in-all, this is a great white table wine, probably best suited to spring and summer. It will pair very well with most fish, light chicken dishes, and summer vegetables. And with Wine Spectator awarding it 89 points, you can rest assured I’m not lying about how good it is.

$9.99

More proof that some of the best deals in wine today are coming out of Spain. Weighing in under $10, this 100% tempranillo (A native grape used in nearly all of Spain’s great wines) is tough to beat when it comes to affordable reds. What’s it got going for it? A brief stint in middle-aged American oak, selection by the famed Spanish wine importer Jorge Ordonez, and origins in La Mancha (think Don Quixote), a region from where many of the country’s top bargains are coming. But how does it taste? Well, it’s garnet in color, smells of black cherries, and is smooth, fruity but dry, and relatively low in acidity. It makes a great summer table wine, but is just as good year round with tomato-based pasta, paella, and light chicken dishes. At this price, you won’t feel so bad about cooking with it, or turning a bottle into Sangria, one of Spain’s other native treats. All I can really say about this wine is that its success is, well…quixotic.