Cheap Wine of the Week Wednesday

Hello again all!

This week's cheap wine(s) of the week comes from the spring wine tasting night we hosted on Friday. We tasted a lineup of eight different wines, and most of them were good, with the two Chards we had being notable exceptions.

Here was the list:

1) 2008 Cortijo Viura
2) 2008 Kilda Unoaked Chardonnay
3) 2007 Tulip Hill Oaked Chardonnay
4) 2008 Montinore Estate Muller-Thurgau

5) 2008 Chalone Pinot Noir

6) 2007 The Paradise Montepulciano D'Abruzzo

7) 2005 Zoom Vaca Mountain Vineyard Zinfandel

8) NV Orfila Tawny Port

Here they are, all bagged and ready to taste.

So my favorite white of the night was the Viura. I've never had this varietal before, and when I went to Lush Wine and Spirits to pick up the bottles for the night, I asked them for an Albarino, which they didn't have. But they suggested this instead, and it was really good. Very light, a little mineral-y, nice a smooth going down. I was a big fan. I'll definitely try this varietal again if I run across it. And this particular one, at $10 even, was a great deal and deserving of Cheap Wine of the Week status.

My favorite red of the night, and my favorite wine overall, was the Zoom Zinfandel. I got to cheat a little bit and try this at Lush when I was buying all the wines, so I knew how good it was going to be beforehand. In fact, I considered not even putting this in the tasting and keeping it for Brad and I, but I decided our friends deserved to taste the goodness too. At $15, it's a little steep for a truly cheap wine, but oh man was it worth every penny. Rich and velvety, smooth as all get out, strong flavors but not overpowering, yummy! And it tasted like Napa, so that was lovely. 

This is how much I liked it:

So there you have it. Oh, and a special shout-out to Orfila's Tawny Port. Though it's not my favorite style of wine in the world, three out of the ten people liked it best at the table. 

Enjoy, friends!