The Wine Curmudgeon

Wine of the week: Yalumba Y Series Shiraz/Viognier 2010

The epic decline in the Australian wine industry has been well documented; the wineries that have survived have done so because they have been that much better than the rest of the business

Case in point is Yalumba, which managed to avoid the excesses on both the high and low ends over the past two decades and has emerged as an example of what a post-modern Aussie winery can be. Jane Ferrari, who tours the world for Yalumba, told me the effort wasn’t always a lot of fun, but that the fifth-generation family business was the better for it.

One improvement is better distribution, so that we can buy the wines in more places in the U.S. The shiraz ($10, purchased), a red blend with a bit of viognier to add interest, has been difficult to find in Dallas. That always annoyed me because Yalumba’s Y series has terrific cheap wine.

The shiraz is an Australian wine that one can actually drink without taking a nap between glasses. It's still big and juicy (lots of black fruit and 14 1/2 percent alcohol), but both are well under control. Missing is the ashy aftertaste that so many of these wines have, and that makes them so difficult to like. It’s a red meat wine, but you can enjoy it without food. Highly recommended, and a candidate for the 2013 Hall of Fame.

Wine of the week: Domaine D'Arton Les Hauts 2011

Domaine D’Arton, a white blend from the Gascony region of France, is great cheap wine, even by the Wine Curmudgeon’s exacting standards. It’s not only on a level with the Gascon wines in the $10 Hall of Fame, but it also demonstrates that wine doesn’t have to come from the same old places and be made with the same old grapes.

The D’Arton ($9, purchased) is an odd blend, even for Gascony, made with mostly colombard and fleshed out with sauvignon blanc (not the region’s best grape) and gros manseng. The result is a dry white with some lemon peel in the front, yet underneath is that wonderful white grapiness that makes Gascon wines so distinctive and so much fun to drink. It's the kind of wine that doesn't require a critic or a sommelier; just a simple dinner or an evening on the porch, friends and conversation.

And I’m not the only one who feels this way, for all the doubters and chardonnay drinkers out there.

Is this a Thanksgiving wine? Is the Wine Curmudgeon a crank about cheap wine?

Wine of the week: Cristalino Brut NV

Sometimes, one forgets old friends. Not intentionally, of course, but because of the press of business and the rush of life. There are new wines to try and more posts to write, and one sometimes takes things like Cristalino for granted.

For which I’m sorry. It has been two years since I reviewed Cristalino, the Spanish sparking wine known as cava, and that post was more a back-handed slap at the lawsuit that made it change its name because a federal judge ruled that consumers might confuse it with the $150 Cristal, which was French and Champagne. (Its new legal name is Jaume Serra Cristalino, which I refuse to use.)

This was one of the first wines I ever reviewed professionally, back in my newspaper days, and it has never – and I mean never – let me down. The first bottle I opened for this review was flat (no doubt sitting on a shelf in a hot warehouse too long), but was still quite drinkable.

Cristalino ($7, purchased) is everything a cheap wine should be and too often isn’t – varietally correct and well made, with distinct flavors and character. Look for terrific bubbles, a little bit of green apple fruit, and even a sort of mineral finish. Yes, it’s simple, but it’s also not too much of one thing or not enough of another, an incredible achievement for a $7 wine.

It will take its rightful place in the 2013 $10 Hall of Fame in January, and I will drink more of it this holiday season and recommend it for Thanksgiving. Because it’s always good to say hello to an old pal.

Planet Bordeaux II: More French wine you can afford

Anyone who says the French don’t understand social media or the importance of cheap wine need to note the Planet Bordeaux promotion that has been going on for the past couple of years. Almost all of the wines I’ve tasted as part of the campaign have been well made – several even better than that – and have cost around $10. Plus, we got to tweet about them.

Friday night’s Twitter tasting featured six whites and two roses. The Twitter conversation was quite lively, as these things usually are, I wasn’t able to add my curmudgeonly wisdom after the first couple; my Internet connection has been spotty for the past month or so, and it was up and down on Friday. Still, the wines were impressive – more, after the jump:

Mini-reviews 41: Eurl Patrick, Fougeray de Beauclair, Chateau Massiac, House Band

Reviews of wines that don’t need their own post, but are worth noting for one reason or another. Look for it on the final Friday of each month:

• Eurl Patrick Barrière Village 2010 ($10, purchased): I bought this wine because I didn’t expect it to be worth drinking (I am the Wine Curmudgeon, after all). But it wasn’t French bad – green and tannic. Instead, it was California bad – overripe and extracted, without tannins or acid, and made in the grocery store style.

• Fougeray de Beauclair Bourgogne 2009 ($20, purchased): Another attempt to find drinkable red Burgundy for less than $40 with mixed results. Slightly rustic (pencil lead on the front and a rough, interesting finish), but not much fruit, even for Burgundy, and a bit thin in the middle.

• Château Massiac Minervois 2008 ($15, sample): Surprisingly fresh and fruity (black cherry?) red blend from southern France that includes syrah. But still dark and almost brooding; I'm not sure how it would fare with Americans used to Central Coast merlot.

• House Band White NV ($10, sample): This white blend takes full advantage of California's plethora of cheap, quality grapes and solid winemaking skills. It's dry and fruity, but not overdone in any way.

Wine of the week: Ludovicus Blanco 2011

Last week’s discussion about the book “Grape-a-hol” made me wonder: Do I do enough to find $10 wine that doesn’t taste like grape juice with alcohol? Are the wines I review worthy of being reviewed?

Then I found the Ludovicus ($10, sample) in my database, and felt a whole lot better about what I do and how I do it. This Spanish white is the kind of wine that the big milt-national wine companies claim they make, but know, deep down, that they don’t even try to do. It has a little bit of citrus fruit, but this wine isn’t about fruit. Rather, it’s made with the Spanish version of grenache blanc, so it has spiciness, minerality, and even a bit of honey – a combination that I don’t taste in a lot of other wines. It’s surprisingly complex and yet still drinkable at the spur of the moment, something else that hardly ever happens.

I wrote in my notes “No idea how this wine can be this good at this price.” It’s almost certain to make the 2013 $10 Hall of Fame, and is highly recommended – another reason why Ole is Spain’s best wine importer.

Wine of the week: 14 Hands Hot to Trot Red 2010

Chateau Ste. Michelle, the Washington state multi-national that does the 14 Hands, is on a roll. It placed four brands in the top 20 in a recent survey of best-selling $10 wines, only one less than E&J Gallo and as many as Constellation and The Wine Group (which does Cupcake) combined. That’s a very Rocky-like performance given how powerful its competitors are.

Equally as impressive is that a 14 Hands wine is a wine of the week for the second time this year (despite this one’s very silly name). I try not to do that sort of thing, but it’s difficult to overlook 14 Hands’ combination of quality and value. Which, no doubt, is why Chateau Ste. Michelle sells so much wine.

The Hot to Trot ($9, purchased) is a red blend – mostly merlot, syrah and cabernet sauvignon – that is simple but well made. It doesn’t try to do too much, and it doesn’t taste like winemaker Keith Kenison used his chemistry set to take it in any one direction. Look for some spice and lots of black fruit and that earthy Washington state feel, especially in the back.

Very nicely done for the price, and should please anyone who wants a glass of red wine but doesn’t want to make a big issue of it. Pair it with basic red wine food like meat loaf and mashed potatoes.