10 for $10 (for the cheap drunk in all of us)
I (Wino #2) like an expensive bottle of wine as much as the next person. But at this time of year, when we're already imbibing wayyy too much, hey ?it starts to add up! Plus, with a recession now officially here, it's time to say "Cheers!" to those bottles that won't leave us too short-changed this holiday season. Here's my "Top 10 for $10" (or less):
1. Glwein (mulled wine). This stuff is the best, hands down. In Germany (where I spent 1/3 of my life), you can get a liter (34 ounces) of Christkindl Glwein at any supermarket for about €2 ($3). Better yet, el cheapo supermarket chains such as Penny, Lidl, Aldi and Minimal sell this stuff in TetraPaks (think wine-in-a-box) for about ?I kid you not ?€1 ($1.47). Who cares about fancy packaging when the taste should be winning you over? Several wine and liquor shops in the Seattle area sold this stuff last winter. This year? Nowhere to be found. After I had made a few calls around to track this stuff down, I was told the U.S. distributor had recently gone out of business! But it is possible to make your own. Head to Safeway's special Christmas section and buy some spices for making mulled wine. Not quite as good as the stuff in Germany, but pretty darn close.
2. The other day, I received a gift bottle of 2004 Washington State Syrah called Basket Case. You gotta love the way these people promote themselves ?as well as the $9.99 price tag. The powerful, full-bodied, plummy-with-hints-of-pepper wine tastes pretty damn good, too.
3. Red Truck California Table Wine. Depending on where you shop, this ranges from $7.99-$9.99. Stawberry, blackberry and plum come through for me. The tannins are quite stiff, but hey, I am one of those oddballs who actually like tannins.
4. Red Truck California Cabernet Sauvignon. Seriously, another one from these guys. I have only tried these two (I'm a sucker for Cab and any good red table wine), but I don't think it's possible for these guys to screw up a bottle of wine. Same price range as above.
5. Jest Red. Why not? Another $9.99er that jest tastes good.
6. Mad Housewife Chardonnay. At $5.99 a bottle, what a deal! Plus, you gotta dig the whole dirty librarian thing the woman on the label has going on...
7. Freixenet Cordon Negro Brut Spain Cataluna Cava Sparkling Wine. At $7.99 a bottle, this stuff tastes just as good as any Dom Perignon or the lesser-expensive Veuve Clicquot. Why pay so much for bubbly when this stuff is as good as any chic champagne?
8. Prosecco. A fancy Italian word for sparkling wine. Trust me, any of the bottles of this stuff you can find at Trader Joe's for less than $10 are more than drinkable. Now if only I could find some Aperol in Seattle to put in it?
9. Yeah, I've heard of "two-buck-chuck" from Trader Joe's. Have some self-respect and avoid it. Try the supermarket chain's $2.99 J.W. Morris Cabernet Sauvignon instead. The two-buck chuck stuff just gives you extremely bad wine breath....with a disgusting after-taste to boot.
10. Back in the day (i.e. when I was underage, in college and broke ?those three kind of go together, don't they?), I had a penchant for Boone's Farm Strawberry Hill ($2.95). I don't think I could stomach this stuff now (AKA I have some self-respect now), but believe it or not, there is a whole fan club online, and their testimonials are hysterical.