Earlier in this thread, I lamented the disappearance of Borsao. Yesterday, I caught site of it in a Cost Plus ad. Today, I bought several bottles.

The last vintage I had, I think, was 2000; the stuff I just bought was 2003. It's a Spanish wine, meant to be drunk young, 75% grenache and 25% tempranillo. The DO is Campo de Borja, just a stone's throw from Rioja and Navarra in the north along the River Ebro. The importer is Tempranillo--I don't know if this is a change from before or not. I did call Binny's, my former source, and they continue to say it's been discontinued there.

I'll report back after I try a bottle, since it's been a couple years, but I'm happy to see its return. Regular price is now $6.99, but it's currently on sale for $5.99.

Cheers,

Aaron

Aaron,

IIRC the last vintage of Borsao in the Chicago area was 2001. The reason you have not been able to find it is that the importer, Jorge Ordonez, stopped doing business with the Chicago distributor at the end of 2002. This was a real shame because the Illinois wholesaler was a small Mom and Pop operation. The owner, Jim Rickert, is a great guy and has a good reputation. They sold a ton of Jorge's wine, but I guess that wasn't enough. The wines were always sold out prior to the next vintage being released, so I don't know what more you could ask for. In the meantime, his wines have been out of one of the top couple of US markets for almost two years.

Almost all of Jorge's wineries make special bottlings (with cool labels) for America, geared towards our California-reared palate. The wines were very good values. In my former life, I sold a ton of his wines (many different labels).

Cost Plus currently only sells one of Jorge's wines in IL and it is Borsao. I don't think it is legal to sell wine not purchased from an IL wholesaler, but they seem to be doing it anyway.

In Jorge Ordonez's absence from the IL marketplace, the wines from importer Eric Solomon have picked up a lot of the inexpensive Spanish business.

Al Ehrhardt wrote:I don't think it is legal to sell wine not purchased from an IL wholesaler, but they seem to be doing it anyway.

Al,

Is this what you meant? I know Rudi (from Rudi's wine bar) while at Bistro Ultra, used to sell all sorts of imported wines by the case. I don't think they went through a wholesaler...I would assume as long as the correct tax was paid that you can resell wines from any source.

I have never been in the business, so please correct me if I am wrong. I thought the whosaler business/distributor only cmae about for logistical reasons, i.e., cheaper to ship by the pallet to a broker/distributor, than individual cases.

pd

Peter,

In Illinois, a licensed retailer can only sell alcoholic beverages that were purchased from a licensed Illinois wholesaler.

As far as Rudi goes, God knows.

Best,
Al

A Trader Joe's find by john m: 1999 Argento Amarone.

As far as Rudi goes, God knows.

Let's not start this thread again.

I could use some assistance from the group on wine recommendations...

The in-laws are throwing a wine tasting party and need recommendations at the $10 to $13 range. They're looking for three reds and three whites, with a variety of growing regions and varietals.

In combing through this topic I came across a couple good possibilities:


From Aaron Deacon

Speaking of viognier blends, I really like a Pine Ridge Viognier-Chenin Blanc. It used to be like $7-8 at Wine Discount Center--and I thought it was a real bargain at that price. It's gone up a few bucks, and it's $11 at Binny's and Sam's, but even at that price, I still buy it. It's a nice compliment to Thai food.

From dicksond

I have been exploring central California wines, and have found some decent wines in the $8-$15 range (better than the more expensive ones for the most part, which tend to be overdone). My summer wine of choice this year has been the 2002 Claiborne & Churchill Central Coast Dry Riesling. But it does come in at about $12 a bottle, so it exceeds the target (though it seems pretty perfect for me).

I'd welcome your suggestions. Thanks!

Two inexpensive reds that I like: the Fairview Goats do Roam, a nice Cote de Rhone blend from South Africa that WS rated an 85, Sam's has it for $6.99, and Rex Goliath a Californian Pinot Noir also $6.99 at Sam's. For whites, I look to Alsace. Although we just bought a case of Petite Chenin Blanc from South Africa in the same price range as the above wines that we find to be of good quality/value ratio.

A cheap red I've been keeping around for a while now:

Castaño Monastrell
There are a few different vintages around, but I've not noticed a huge difference. I think its $5.99 at Binny's (maybe $5.49) and Uncorkit!, where I usually purchase it. Not great, but very easy drinking and a very good value. I've seen it at erwin, for example, for $7/glass.



La Serre de Haut 2005 Rosé
I like pink wines a lot, and I've been searching for a good summer drinker for pretty cheap. I've cycled through a lot of the Spanish suspects, which I've found largely fine, but nothing so fine as to keep me from moving on to the next one. You can get the Spanish suckers for six or seven bucks a pop, but I'm much more excited by this little French gem, even at $8.99 at Fox and Obel. Great balance of sweet strawberries on the palate with a clean dry finish, and it won't break the bank. Not sure where else it's avaiblable, but surely somewhere in town and for cheaper. Chicago Wine Merchants is the importer. Sorry, couldn't find a pic online.

Aaron Deacon wrote:A cheap red I've been keeping around for a while now:

Castaño Monastrell
There are a few different vintages around, but I've not noticed a huge difference. I think its $5.99 at Binny's (maybe $5.49) and Uncorkit!, where I usually purchase it. Not great, but very easy drinking and a very good value. I've seen it at erwin, for example, for $7/glass.

I second the recommendation of Castano Monastrell. It's usually $5 or $6 at Sam's. You will not find many wines this good at this price. Parker gave the 2002 90 points.

K&L has it for $3.99: http://www.klwines.com/product.asp?sku=1010243

It's a great house wine.

In the $9-$20 range, I look for Kermit Lynch wines. He is an importer of French and Italian wines, and he tends to have excellent wines from the south of France. See his newsletters and descriptions at www.kermitlynch.com.

Aaron--

I'm a big fan of the Serre de Haut Rose and I'm pretty sure I paid only $5.99 at the Binny's in Hyde Park. It's a perfect summer wine.

Patrick

I've been enjoying Spanish wines lately for tasty drinking, food friendly stuff in the $10 range. Howard of Howard's Wine Cellar on Belmont has given me Luzon (Jumilla), and Protocolo. Both fairly widely available. The first is about $10, maybe less. The second is probably $6-$7. Pretty yummy, both.

And, if you like the style better, investigate Argentinian Malbec. There are very expensive ones out there, but also very nice ones for $10-$15 and even under. I'm afraid specific names escape me right now, but ask your wine seller.

Fox and Obel has Protocolo red for, I think, $6.99, and I liked it pretty well on one sample. Enough to try it again, for sure.

Have you had the white, which I know is available at least at Uncorkit, or the pink, which I haven't seen?

I wasn't aware that Protocolo came in a range of designer colors, but I'll keep my eye out. I have a couple of quite inexpensive Spanish whites at home that Howard gave me, but I haven't tried them yet. One is Albarino, and I forget the other one. Will report back.

mrbarolo wrote:And, if you like the style better, investigate Argentinian Malbec. There are very expensive ones out there, but also very nice ones for $10-$15 and even under. I'm afraid specific names escape me right now, but ask your wine seller.

The Wine Discount Center on Elston has a Los Cardos Malbec for $6.99 that I think is quite good at that price point.

The Malbec roses are springing up all over the place, and they have been quite good. I second the recommendation by Matt of the Los Cardos, and for a couple bucks more, the Crios has a bit more stuffing to it. I dont think that I have ever had a spanish or southern french rose that wasnt decent, and usually a bargain. If you want to step up, the Domaine de la Morderee Tavel is now out, for about 20 bucks (I heard that wine discount center got the entire US allocation). I havent tried the 2005 yet, but this is usually a serious wine that can age for several years. I still have some 2002 that tastes very young. Very unusual for a rose. -Will

On a whim, I recently bought a Eastern European Riesling that was from the Banat region which is split between Serbia, Hungary and Romania. It cost about $6 at City Fresh Market on Devon and Kedzie. It was surprisingly good, comparable to a much more expensive wine. It was dry and very slightly fruity, but not in a sweet way. Overall, it seemed closer to a SB than a Riesling. In fact, I don't think it was actually a Riesling at all. The label said it was made with a grape variety called "Kreaca". Is anybody familiar with this particular varietal? It seems it would be excellent with fish or maybe even with Thai food.

City Fresh Market
3201 W Devon Ave
Chicago, IL 60659
(773) 764-6280

I went through a brief period of working through some of the available wines from Eastern Europe (mostly reds, though) but I don't recall coming across either Banat, or Kreaca. Hugh Johnson calls the wines of the region "workaday" and say little else.

For the record, in the $10 I really enjoyed some Croatian wines made from Plavac Mali varietal (Postup, Dingac, Vranac [Montenegro]). They were sometimes a bit blowsy, but appealing with autumn stews, and bread and salami and such. (Also had a couple I really did not like, but have forgotten their names. And some bad Romanian PN.)

RST, where are you?

Back in the early to mid '80's when I was studying Catalan, I used to drink a fair amount of Torres' Sangre de Toro, in part because I liked it, in part simply because it was Catalan, in part because it was cheap and I was relatively poor, and in part because I liked the little plastic bull and mini Catalan flag that came with each bottle. The price of this wine has gone up quite a bit in relation to other wines of its general class and I stopped buying it some years back, even before they stopped giving away the little bulls and flag ribbons.

In any event, the last time I was in Kenosha, visiting Tenuta's (link), I saw a bin of the 'Sangre de Toro 50 Annivesario' edition at the two-for-one special rate (Tenuta's has a large section with two-for-ones) of $11.99. At ca. $6 a bottle I was willing to take a ride down memory lane and was not disappointed.

Incidently, the anniversary edition comes with a little gold bull and the flag ribbon... i aquest m'agrada molt.

Antonius

I am also a fan of Torres' Sangre de Toro (which I typically get for $8.00 or $9.00 in my neighborhood) and not least of all because of the toy bulls, as well as the fact that it's an inoffensive choice for a wide variety of meals. Before I cleaned house recently, I had a small herd of little toy Toros (including a couple of the golden variety) lined up on the shelf over my kitchen sink. One time about a year ago, I had the opportunity to present one of the gold bulls to a charming little girl who was with her mother at the checkout next to me (the cashier had scissors to cut the ribbon). Perhaps in 15 years or so the girl will start a collection of her own.*



* Yep, little kids should not be in liquor stores. But there she was, and I hope not to have corrupted her too much by making it such a fun experience. Maybe she has a little brother who by now has eaten the bull.

If you can get past the cutesy name, there's quite a drinkable cheap Australian pinot noir called the Little Penguin, which I posted about here.

A couple of good summer wines:

Fleur de California Vin Gris, Carneros Pinot Noir (2005) - delightful California dry rose, under $10, and perfect on a 95-degree day like today.

Kumkani Pinotage (2004) - delivers more flavor per buck at $12 than anything short of a Russian River zin. Really good with a steak or barbecue.

I bought both of these at Provenance, the really neat little gourmet shop that recently opened up here in Logan Square, where they always keep a table of < $10 selections front and center.

mrbarolo wrote:I wasn't aware that Protocolo came in a range of designer colors

I picked up a bottle of white Protocolo last week on my way to Sol de Mexico, but it met its untimely demise on the floor of the Grand and State red line station. I tried again last night at Glenn's Diner, and it was surprisingly good. Not terribly complex, but a nice medium-bodied white for six or seven bucks and a good foil to the fish.

* Yep, little kids should not be in liquor stores. But there she was, and I hope not to have corrupted her too much by making it such a fun experience. Maybe she has a little brother who by now has eaten the bull.

Child-hater!

Actually I take my kids to Sam's, even though I recognize the possibility that grabby hands could make that a very costly mistake someday, on the theory that educating them that alcohol is to be treated as one more fine thing in life to be enjoyed judiciously will make it less of a totally awesome discovery to be binge-drunk when they're teenagers.

They think it's really cool that I have some bottles cellared that are the same ages they are, to be drunk when they graduate high school, or reform school, or whatever.