Affordable & Amazing Wine
Jul 9th, 2009 by Alana
I’ve always been interested in fine wine and low prices. As my palette is maturing with experience; inexpensive and great wine is harder to come by. I’ve found that reading, learning and tasting is the quickest route to success. Here’s what I look for:
- What countries or appellations are up & coming?
- Is the region consistently getting great reviews?
- Are flying winemakers with established reputations settling in and investing their time & energy in a certain appellation?
- What is the terrior like?
Some regions have fairly distinct goals (although there are always dissenters–bless them). It’s my belief that Australians want to make palatable table wine for the masses. Like their casual attitude towards food & fun, for them wine is simply a good beverage to be enjoyed without a lot of fuss. My experience with New Zealand wines leads me to believe that they strive for a very distinctive, New Zealand flavor profile and their image is easy-going as opposed to complex (unlike France which is distinctive with an image of complexity).
Wine regions like Chile are attracting flying winemakers & established winery owners that love the terrior, the relatively low price of entry and the potential for huge international sales. This is the region that I’m really into at the moment. South Africa is a close second. Chilean wines are fun to experiment with food or without.
I’m also interested in newer or less well-known wine regions closer to home like Livermore (Northern California), Pope Valley (east of Napa), Mt. Veeder (above Napa Valley) to name a few. But alas, this regions don’t have the price points that the overseas wineries do.
If you want to learn, keep your eye out for articles like this one, read Wine Enthusiast online or Google a country/region and the word wine. Attend tastings offered by distributors and wineries, but avoid trying to learn too much at one tasting. Taste 7-8 wines over 4 hours and spend the majority of your time asking questions, looking at maps of the region and getting a sense of the terrior, grapes and winemaking style.
Nice post – it is amazing how many great wine regions there are in the world. I would also recommed Spain as a great region to look at. They have probably the most interesting combination of old-world and new-world styles and elements in their winemaking and a wide variety of terroir in a comparativeley small country geographically. Rioja is well known to many, but Priorat, Toro, Ribera dl Duero, Jumilla and others are all excellent – each with their own unique wines.
Absolutely! I look forward to visiting that country too. I’ve tried some Spanish wines but I’m a neophyte…I have a LOT to learn. There’s a wonderful restaurant locally (Marin County, CA) called Sabor of Spain. There is roving entertainment like Spanish Opera singers and she has a wine/food shop attached next door. When I’m done with Chile, I’ll have my own local mentor to teach me about Spain!