Champagne (OK, Sparkling Wine) Recommendations for New Years

This assumes you care what it tastes like?  If you are only getting something to fill a glass, buy what ever is cheapest.  But assuming you actually want to drink it....

Under $10 - Barefoot Extra Dry.  Odd think about "Extra Dry" - it is actually a little sweeter than Brut - however the rules for labeling sparkling wine allow a wide latitude in sugar levels, so it is fairly hard to actually know what you are getting without trying it.  Barefoot Extra Dry is just a touch sweet - really I consider this a dry, very slightly slightly sweet, fruity sparkling wine.  It tastes great with food, and it's fine by itself.  I bought four cases for my daughters wedding ($7.49 a bottle, Festival Foods).  I was not disappointed.  It was great for the toast, and it was good to drink with the meal.

Aldi's Grate Red 2011 - get it, Grate...

Photo stolen from Cheap Wine Finder 

I like Aldi's.  Low prices, generally good food products.  Never really tried their wine, as much of their stuff (Winking Owl) gets a really bad rap.

However, they have been adding more wine's, and those wines have been getting decent reviews.  So, I decided to go for it - Aldi's Grate Red, Vintage 2011.  Part of the gimmick is that it is advertised as "An Italian wine perfect for anything grilled".  A Toscana Rosso (that's red wine from the Tuscany Region for you heathens) has no listed grapes on it - it is surely a blend, likely with  Sangiovese  grapes as the primary.  Aldi claims it to be a medium dry, full bodied red wine.  With that....

Grate Red is a cheap ($4.99) bottle of red wine that is light in color (think Pinot, kind of like cherry juice), dry, with soft fruit, decent body (not thin) and not much tannins.  Not much nose, very slight alcohol  but none really on the tongue.  It does go great with steak (which is what I had it with), and I think it would be great with burgers or grilled chicken.

If your looking for a bottle of red wine for grilled foods, this is a winner at $4.99.  If your having a lot of friends over and would rather spend more on the steak than the wine, I would definitely go for it. It won't impress anyone as a great wine, but it might impress those who appreciate a good wine that is inexpensive.  Pretty much as advertised - you will not be disappointed in spending $5 on this wine.

House Wine Red 2009 Review

Wine Blogging.  I hear it is the way to drive traffic to your blog and get free wine from distributors looking for someone to shill their wine.  Some places only give good reviews, working from the perspective, If you don't have something nice to say, say nothing at all.  Phooey.  Swill is swill and it deserves to be called out, no matter if you buy it or someone else does.

Good news is, House Wine Red 2009 is a pretty good wine, especially for the 5 bones it cost me at Gordy's in Eau Claire, WI.  Gordy's clearances out a lot of wine - if it isn't selling, it gets clearanced and they move in something else.  So I manage to try a variety of inexpensive (under $20) wine.  I picked this up (regularly $12.49) for $5.00.  It doesn't have to be great to be good at that price, but this is worth it's regular price and a great buy at clearance - I intend on buying out the rest tomorrow.

So, what is House Wine Red?  Made by the Magnificent Wine company, it is part of their Washington State wines that are designed to go with food - Steak House Red, Fish House White, etc. This is the general red - a wine that goes with many items on the menu, if not all.  68% Cab, 22% Merlot, 4% Malbec, 4% Syrah and 2% Petit Verdot, all from the Columbia Valley.  Some companies would call this "Meritage" or some glossy name, but here it is just House Wine.  

Somehow both a deep red and a light red together - almost Pinot Noir like.  Through the side of the glass it is dark, but looking down, much lighter.  Odd.  The nose is fairly soft, with some fruit and alcohol.   First sip is slightly fruity (blueberry?), soft,(some might say silky) with slightly tannins, with the tannins building up and fruit staying.  While there is alcohol on the nose, there is none in the tasting..  A dry wine, but not a fruit bomb (thank you for that), this is a wine that is fine by itself, better with appetizers and great with food.  Beef, lamb, veal.  Should be fine with chicken, fish or pork - a real house wine, comfortable with everything you serve.  If you enjoy a red wine with your meal, you will find this more than acceptable.

Good at retail price, excellent on clearance.  For another review, try The Drunk Yinzer blog.