Beppi has been thinking about building a recession cellar of wines costing $15 or less.
According to Beppi, the place you can get the most bang for your buck is the unoaked (oak meaning that toasty vanilla character) whites (no time in the barrel means savings).
*Leaping Horse Chardonnay. California. $12
“Compltely unoaked, it still manages to deliver the big tropica fruit flavour and buttery opulence of many oaked, warm weather counterparts, but with a fressness that makes a versatile food partner.”
*Jacques & Francois Lurton Les Fumees Blanches Sauvignon Blanc, France. $11
*Rene Barbier Classic White. Northern Spain. $10
*Blue Nun Riesling, 2007. Germany. $10
Be sure to look for Riesling on the lable or you will end up buying “the generic kitchen-sink Blue Nun blend that served as a sweet gateway drink for North American pop drinkers of the 1970’s… this is made from higher quality grapes… it’s not only an eye-opening value, but its off-dry character makes it a nice partner for spicy Thai dishes.”
There are cheap (recession-friendly) reds too.
*Roodenberg. South Africa. $15
“some readers may recall it… At one point, before the apartheid sanctions pulled it from the shelves, it was among the bestselling reds wines in the country… it is a full bodies, round, chunky wine.”
*Zuccardi Fuzion Shiraz Malbec. Argentina. $7.45
“I’ve raved about this before. It is a runaway bestseller in Quebec and Ontairo. And it remains a standout in price-quality ratio.”
*Santa Julia Malbec, 2008. Argentina. $9
This one is from the same winery as the above. Made the Wine Access “Killer Values” list.
*Argento Reserva Malbec. Argentina. $13
Also made the “Killer Values” list.
And the there’s even Bubbly to be recommended by Beppi.
Apparently if you don’t have tins of cash to throw down on a bottle of bubbly, your best bet is to go with something from Spain. “No country produces such consistently balanced, impressively complex sparkling wines.”
*Segura Viudas Brut Reserva. Spain. $14.95
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