2005 Costano Solanera – $14

91 points Wine Spectator, 90 points Stephen Tanzer and Robert Parkers’ Spanish Wine Bargain under $20. Imported and custom blended by Eric Solomon, which is always a good sign, wines with Solomon’s name on the back label are usually a very good bet. A  red wine blend of 65% Monastrell, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Tintorera sourced from the Yecla Region of Southern Spain, an up and coming wine region that does not have a trendy name yet. Unfiltered and unfined, ten months aged in oak.

The color is a dark plush deep blood red. The nose is smoke, red twizzlers and dry autumn leaves.  Big and chewy with noticeable but smooth tannins . Tastes of silky dark chocolate truffles with liqueur centers, figs and blueberries. The finish is exactly the same as the initial taste that slowly fades into oblivion. A lush and I dare say, classy wine. Not fun and fruity, but deep dark and thought provoking. Another case of a under $20 wine that can compete with the big boys.

2005 Skillogalee Riesling – $9

There is a Australian Video Blog that I watch, www.wineweek.com.au . The reviews are not super detailed , but Danny and Brad are very enthusiastic about Aussie wines and I get to keep up with the latest Australian slang. One thing they have been saying lately is to keep away from Australian and New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, they insist it tastes of “cat pee”,  the Aussie Riesling has really been on the money lately and it is a far better choice.

Which brings me to the 2005 Skillogalee Riesling, the grapes a sourced from a single vineyard, family owned estate in the Claire Valley and produced in small batches. The bottle I found must have been an end of the bin special, because the 2009 vintage has already been released. It seems that this is a very popular and award winning wine in Australia, but in checking the Web, I did not see much information on this Riesling from U.S. sources. The price for this wine in Australia runs between $15 and $20, so this is proof there are bargains to be had in this economy.

The color is a pale straw yellow. The nose is citrus, minerals and dusty slate. The flavor is smooth rounded pears and honey, muted grapefruit in the back of your palate. The mouth feel is slightly oily and the finish is light citrus that goes on and on and on.The five years of bottle age have been kind to this wine, all the different tastes are well blended, the sharper citrus flavors just dance around the edges. Not a sweet Riesling at all, very dry and very smooth, very tasty. At this price this wine is an amazing steal.

2005 Estancia Cabernet Sauvignon – $18

“We will sell no wine before its time.”

If you’re a geezer like me, you may remember that this was the slogan for Paul Mason wines when Orson Welles was their pitchman in the 1970s and early 80s. And what happened to Paul Mason wines? I don’t know for sure, but they must have fallen on hard times, because In 1986 Augustin Huneeus, a Chilean immigrant and then-president of Franciscan Vineyards, purchased the former Mason vineyard ranches near the Monterey town of Soledad on California‘s Central Coast, and established them as the home of Estancia Winery.

The first replanting of the estate Pinnacles Vineyards was to Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. I first started drinking Estancia’s Cabernet Sauvignon in the late 80s. (The fruit must have been sourced from other local growers, because it wasn’t until 1999 that almost 700 acres in Paso Robles were purchased as the vineyard home for Estancia’s Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Zinfandel, and Red Meritage.)

For the last 20 years, Estancia Cabernet Sauvignon has been my most reliable daily wine. I always keep a case or two in the cellar. When I first started drinking it, it was a steal at $8 a bottle. Today, the normal retail has drifted towards the $16-18 range, but it can occasionally be had for as little as $12 per bottle by the case if you regularly search wine sites for sales. However, even at retail it remains an excellent value.

The color of this wine is classic deep purple. The nose is rather unassuming, and gives little prediction of what is to come. In the glass, the wine starts out quite fruit-forward, with plenty of dark black cherry and currant flavors. The fruit is aided and abetted by toasted sweet oak. Structure is provided by moderate and well-balanced tannins (which become more pronounced after an hour or so in the decanter), and just a hint of pepper and minerality.

These tasting notes are based on the 2005 which I’m currently drinking, but it hardly matters. They must make this stuff in huge tanks or barrels and reserve a large quantity each year for blending, because Estancia Cabernet is the very definition of an unerring house style. I have no idea whether or not this Cab cellars well; it never stays there long enough.

For all of my devotion to Estancia Cabernet Sauvignon, I don’t find the same magic in the rest of their portfolio, which includes all of the usual suspects. The Chardonnay is nice enough, but doesn’t stand out from other similarly priced Chards. The Pinot Noir is thin and unremarkable. The Meritage shows some finesse, but is a poor value at twice the price of the Cabernet. ”

By Stephen Hawk

2005 Chateau Tour Bayard Montagne St. Emilion – $20

Most experts agree that the 2005 vintage is the best vintage of Bordeaux in the last 15 years, and this one lives up to the vintage!  Full bodied and bold, this Bordeaux drinks great now, but would definitely age beautifully.  Cassis and blackberry fill the palate in this monster for the price. Gotta put it down as $20 even though we picked it up for $9 at a sale. Jealous? Yeah, we know some people that know some people that robbed some people.

Decant this bad boy before drinking, as it gets better with air, and drink it with a nice steak.  Awesome value!

2005 Gramona Gran Cuvee – $16

Gramona is the last family owned Cava maker in Spain. The Gran Cuvee is a blend of three grapes, Xarel.lo (that’s right it has a period in the middle), Macabeo and Chardonnay. The still wine is aged one year in French Oak and thirty months “on lees” ( in the bottle while the yeast is doing the second fermentation). Parker gave this vintage 91 points. So far so good, we have a single vintage, estate grown and bottled, 90 point plus Sparkler selling for 16 bucks.

Pale yellow in color, it looks very elegant in the glass. The nose is buttered toast, hints of butterscotch and a bit of lemon zest. The taste is sharp green apples on your tongue and fresh baked apple pie in the back of your palate with  that champagne nutty, yeasty note evident; cool, different levels of flavor. It has both a tart citrus component and a creamy almost buttery element. This a very classy bottle of wine, delicate and varied. The bubbles are light and fleeting, but the taste makes a statement. This is a sparkling wine that will hold it’s own with sparklers far more expensive.

2005 Fife Max Cuvee California Red Wine – $7

I picked up this Zinfandel Blend at Trader Joe’s, I tried to find some information about the Max Cuvee on the internet and found nothing. Fife made a Napa Max Cuvee in the late 90′s and early 2000′s, but  their website makes no mention of a 2005 vintage. So there is something up with this Zinfandel, Syrah, Sangiovese and Petite Syrah blend, nobody puts 4 years of bottle age on a wine to sell it for only 7 bucks. It’s also aged in French oak, which is the most expensive of all the oak used for wine barrels. The sign above the wine at Trader Joe’s said it was sourced from Mendocino County, but the label only says California. So what’s the story with the Max Cuvee?

Nice dark ruby red color, just what you would expect for a Zin blend. The nose was a little tight and oaky, the first sip was all tannins and oak, everything was happening in the back of my mouth, no fruit upfront. Had to sit it down for awhile to let it open up, decanting this wine would be a wise move. After it opened up, the fruit came out and balanced out the tannins and oak, much better. Nice chewy dark fruit and lots of spice with a little hit of oak in the back.The more this opens up, the better it tastes, don’t rush this wine. The finish is not huge but it does linger awhile with a vanilla cola flavor. All in all, a real nice bottle of wine for seven dollars. I don’t think they ever meant to sell this for $7 bucks, but their loss is our gain, so enjoy.

UPDATE : Fife Winery’s has been sold and these Trader Joe’s Fife Wines are made from juice leftover from the old owners. I don’t know if the leftover wine was ever intended to be made into Fife label wines or were intended to be sold off to other labels. But I am sure they never intended to sell these wines for $7.

2005 Hyatt Rattlesnake Hill Cabernet Sauvignon – $10

The Hyatt 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon from Washington State’s grapes come from the New Appelation “Rattlesnake Hills” located in the northern part of the Yakima Valley.

The wine is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon and it is a monster.  Dark garnet in color with tastes of black cherry, plum, blueberry and spice up front.  A rich, almost chewy tannic finish with hints of chocolate.  It is delicious right now, but will benefit with a year of aging. Scary (Halloween pun) value for the price! Enjoy it with steak, grilled red meat or smoked meats.

2005 Columbia Crest Two Vines Shiraz – $6

A 2005 Shiraz from Columbia Valley, Washington, the current vintage of Shiraz from Australia in this price range is 2008, so this wine has a nice bit of bottle age. Aged for 14 months, half in oak barrels, half in stainless. A splash of Cabernet Sauvignon to help with the nose and mouth feel. More attention to detail than you would expect for a wine that I picked up on-sale for $5.99. to top it off it’s a Wine Enthusiast “Best Buy”.

So, how does it taste? The answer is pretty good. A nice mellow fruit forward flavor, not a huge “fruit bomb”, more smooth black cherry with a touch of pepper. The finish evaporates quickly. Not a complex or lush wine, but drinks very well.

I usually avoid really inexpensive red wine, they seem to always have something that is not quite right about them, but the Columbia Crest was a solid shiraz. It was more than just bulk juice, somebody cared about what this wine tasted like. This would be a good “Playstation” wine, invite your buddies over for a Madden tournament, pop the top on a couple of bottles and you got a party started.

Cheap 2005 Bordeaux

So you’ve heard all the rage about how great the 2005 Bordeaux wines are and you are looking to find some for yourself.  Maybe you would Read more