Cheap Wines of the Week

I'm a bad cheap wine of the week reporter! So, I shall rectify that right now and post not one, but two cheap wines of the week, and a special bonus wine of the week. So that should fill my quota from the last couple weeks.

First, my go-to cheap wine, Origin Malbec. It's in every grocery store there is and it's always on sale because grocery-store-wine-buyers have no idea what Malbec is and are afraid to try it. I'm a fan of the Origin line of wines because they are a cheap way to get a sense of different varietals. I'm not saying they're great wines, they're not. But they're good enough for $5 and they do help you explore some different wines you might not have tired before. Brad and I particularly liked the 2008 Malbec. I figured it out, and we've had every vintage of this wine from '05-'08 in the course of our wine drinking years, and this one was really good. So, 5 bucks, decent wine, in the grocery store... give it a try!

Next up is a find from Trader Joe's. Stonehedge Reserve Petite Syrah (yes, they spell Petite Sirah with a "y", oh well). Ever since Don Reha bottled the new estate Petite Sirah at Orfila, I have rectified my former dislike of the varietal (you were right Tania!). Big, spicy, yummy, and rich... it's a good thing to try. And then on our Napa trip on the way out here we got to try some more really good ones. So I saw this at TJ's and thought we'd try it out. It turned out to be a nice option. Some good raisin and a little cocoa on the finish, and just a rich, smooth ride to get there. I think it was $10.99, and it's something we've bought twice now and just a good dinner wine. (PS, this goes better with homemade white pizza than with homemade enchiladas, the chipotle was too much for the wine, the pizza balanced nicely.)

And for our bonus wine, a signed bottle just for me! I went to a winemaker's tasting night Tuesday at Que Syrah (bad pun, good wine), our local wine shop down Southport. Murrieta's Well, a winery in Livermore, CA was there showcasing a few of their wines. For coming out of Livermore, the wine was really quite good. And Sergio Traverso, the owner, knew Alejandro Orfila, the owner of Orfila, so we got to chat about that for a while. It was a fun night with some good wine, and I came away with two of their reds, one of which Sergio signed for me! If you can't read it, the inscription says "To Cassia, All the Best! (and come back to CA) Sergio." Adorable.

Happy bargain hunting in whatever it is that makes you smile this week!