I’m always excited to try wines from different regions. While I’ve had plenty of South American wines from Chile and Argentina, I’ve never had an opportunity to try a wine from Brazil until now. While Brazilian wine is new to me, it’s not a new thing. Salton, the winery that produced this wine, has been […]
Red Wines
DeCopas Malbec – Fresh and Fruity
This wine from DeCopas is one that I don’t have a lot of back story for. It’s an Argentine malbec from Mendoza — like many inexpensive malbecs you find in the US. I can also tell you that the DeCopas brand is part of the Trivento portfolio, which is owned by Concha y Toro, the mega-producer from Chile. […]
Leese Fitch Cabernet Sauvignon
Leese-Fitch is one of the brands produced by “The Other Guys” wine company in California. While I don’t think of them as a big wine producer, I see their wines everywhere I shop so they must be producing a pretty good volume of wine. Some of the other wines they produce include Plungerhead, Pennywise and […]
Château La France, Cuvée Gallus — Earthy & Rich
Last year I started highlighting some good, yet affordable wines from Bordeaux. Here’s another wine in that category. This one comes from Château La France, a pretty large estate in the Bordeaux region at 90 hectares (222 acres) with 75 of those planted. The wine is classified as Bordeaux Supérieur and is made of 60% merlot, 35% […]
Avalon CAB – Fragrant and Tasty
I recently received a bottle of this wine as a media sample and I was intrigued by the story they had to tell along with the wine. They were reaching out to share news about a change they made to the bottle closure. As consumers, we often don’t give a lot of thought to the […]
Château Beausejour, Grand Vin De Bordeaux
Over the past year I’ve reviewed a few different Bordeaux wines, a category that generally isn’t on the list of “cheap” wines. But they do offer some good values and it’s possible to find some tasty ones for under $20. This particular one is a little over the $20 price target. I tasted it without knowing […]
Las Rocas Garnacha – Dynamic and Delicious
Garnacha was the first wine I wrote about at Cheap Wine Ratings and continues to be an easy choice for delicious and affordable wine. And Las Rocas was one of the wines that I included in my early reviews, but I haven’t revisited it since then, until now. This garnacha comes from a co-operative winery […]
Cruz de Piedra Garnacha, Selección Especial – Very Special
Happy New Year! I know that was over a week ago, but I’ve been preoccupied with my day job and a big kitchen remodeling project, so admittedly I’ve been neglecting this site. But I haven’t forgotten it. I wanted to start the new year with getting back to my wine blogging roots and write up […]
Four Vines, Truant, Zinfandel – Bold!
Zinfandel is one of those wines that can be rather divisive. Some people love it and others hate it. Those who love it are often fanatical about it. They like wines that are bold and aggressive and wines with over-the-top fruit flavors and spices. To them, zinfandel is not just a wine, it’s an attitude. […]
Banfi Chianti Classico Riserva – Very Nice!
It has been a few weeks since I’ve posted any updates here, but for good reason — I’ve been traveling to visit wine producers in France and Switzerland. I’ll be writing up details on those producers in the coming weeks, but I wanted to get a quick new review up while I work on those […]