Friday, March 18, 2011

The Bargain Bin


At one of the local wine shops there's a bargain bin. I think I've mentioned it before. Now, the words bargain and wine can be very scary together. But for me, it's just as scary to buy a thirty-five dollar bottle of wine that you've never tasted before because--to be honest--your chances of buying vinegar and feet are often just as good in the fine wine section as they are at the bargain bin.

Anyway, there are two bargain bins, the $3.99 bin, and the $5.99 bin. I've had good experiences and bad experiences with the $3.99 bin, and same for the other. But once in a while--and this is the really great part--I'll have an AMAZING experience with the bargain bin, usually the $5.99 bin (they rotate a greater variety in and out here). The two bottles in the picture (empty... oops) are two of my best experiences to date. The Volteo is a really great, citrus-y Spanish Tempranillo-Shiraz blend, aged in French and American oak. Often retails around $13-$20 a bottle in other wine shops, all for just $5.99. Unfortunately, when I went to the wine shop the other night, it was all gone.

The other bottle is an Italian wine from the Sicilian appellation, and I really enjoyed it. It's not an especially expensive wine to begin with, about $10 a bottle, but it is a very nice wine. I haven't got much experience with Italian wines, but this has left me with a very nice impression.

So there it is, wine: good, cheap, and fun. That's how I like it. So next time you happen to be at your local wine shop, don't be pressured to go to the higher shelves, live a little, try a few new wines. It's a lot of fun.

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