Which wines are a good value for your pocket and for your palate?

We buy a few wines by the case in our home. These favorite wines are enjoyed well enough so that we are certain we will easily enjoy the entire case. Often we wish had another in reserve when they are gone. They are cheap enough not to break the bank and they are made cheaper by the 10% discount we get when we buying the whole case that at the local, "Wine Library," near our home.

Starting with my all time favorite, this one is a bit more expensive than the others at ~ $16 per bottle. It is the Willi Haag - Brauneberger Juffer, Auslese. It is made with the Reisling grape. It has been hand selected for sweet perfection. The word "Auslese" means picked out, selected or sorted, with care. These grapes are grown in the Mosel, Saar Ruwer region in southern Germany where many excellent and very drinkable white wines originate. The wine, if left to the air to breath for 15 min or so, will surprise you with a delicate sweetness. It caresses the tongue with a fruity and delicately pleasant taste. It's flavor includes subtle hints of honey and stone fruits. This is a great wine to sip alone or to take with a food that will not compete with it's fragile taste. It could accompany a simple roast chicken meal or a flounder or sole dinner.

The other white wine on my list costs a mere ~ $3.00 per bottle! A few years ago it went for $2.00 per bottle so it earned it's affectionate nickname, "Two Buck Chuck." It is the Charles Shaw, Chardonnay. This is a wine that held it's own at a tasting with wines that had much more snob appeal at $150.00 or more per bottle at a recent California wine tasting. That year, the Charles Shaw Chardonnay took the gold medal! They left the high end, snob wine makers embarrassed, their mouths a gape! This inexpensive treat is available at the Trader Joe's markets and probably elsewhere. It is a great simple very drinkable table wine that will not break the bank while you enjoy it. We enjoy it often with dinner.

My favorite red, a bit more on the dry side, is the Baron Philippe Rothschild's Merlot at ~ $10.00 per bottle. After admiring it's deep ruby red color in the glass for about twenty minuets, it will greet your palate with a crispness and earthiness that at any price is a true treat. There are hints of warm toasted breads and creamy nut meats with a fruity tartness. It has great legs (It drags down the side of the glass after each sip with long lovely streaks.) which tells you that it will coat the tongue nicely with no breaks as it blankets your palate with flavor. The name while impressive with it's "Rothschild's" connection, tells you that is it a northern French wine made from the Merlot grape. It could stand up well to a peppered or garlic spiced beef dinner or a richly spiced pork or chicken recipe.

Last but not least is the Bruno Verdi's Sangue De Giuta, Paridiso. It is a lightly sparkling red with a sweetness reminiscent of freshly squeezed orange juice in it's honesty. It is not at all cloying. It's color is a on the paler side of red. It's bubbles do not materialize in the glass, they are experienced when the wine embraces your tongue. My husband and I always smile when we say, "it dances lightly on the tongue." We have been drinking and enjoying this pretty red for quite a while. It is a pleasant - drink alone wine - or a good paring with a rich spiced pork meal, garlic and rosemary lamb or a robust beef roast.

Cheers and please, do drink responsibly.

"First the man takes a drink,
than the drink takes a drink,
than the drink takes the man." - Old Chinese Proverb.

Learn more about this author, Dame Leo.
Click here to send author comments or questions.

---

Add your voice

Know something about Inexpensive wines of value?
We want to hear your view. Write now!