It’s hard to find a Tuscan wine that gets nearly universal praise and only costs around $10.

Monte Antico’s Tuscana is such a wine. I first found this wine in a small shop 5-6 years ago. I frequently buy it today. You’ll find it anywhere from $8.95 to $12.95 at shops everywhere. The Italian producer makes about 100,000 cases annually and they seem to make great juice with each vintage.

The inexpensive blend has 5% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon and 85% of the great Italian grape Sangiovese. Sangiovese is the base for most red Italian blends. You can also buy many great, inexpensive bottles of 100% Sangiovese at many shops.

The 2004 Monte Antico is just a very easy-to-drink wine. For those who’s Italian Red wine experience starts with things like the Riunite at the market, here as an easy step up financially for a great companion to any Italian dish. You get the fruit of the Sangiovese with the Cab and Merlot making it a well-rounded, enjoyable glass with food. It’s very smooth and goes great with pasta, pizza, or meat.

I’d call it medium bodied, at best. Wine drinkers who like big Cabs, Zins, or Syrah will find this a bit boring. But I have never grown tired of this fine little wine.

Again, you’ll find it everywhere. If you are just getting into wine – this one is a great buy, a great wine. Wine Spectator gave this little gem an 87 for its 2004 bottle.

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I enjoy wines of all type, mostly red obviously. The last few years I’ve been able to buy some really nice wines and set them aside for special occasions.

I had my office co-workers over Thursday night and opened a bottle of Pinot Noir I had hand-carried back on my plane from a visit to California in 2006. (Yes, hand carried before the laws about liquid in the cabin were introduced!)

The wine was a 2004 Gary Farrell Pinot Noir. It was simply one of the better glasses of wine I have ever enjoyed. Four years in the bottle certainly makes a difference to these high end wines.

Farrell has long been recognized as one of the Russian River Valley’s premier producers. This pinot was incredibly balanced and smooth. It was rich to the taste with a finish that had just a hint of tannins for balance. The wine is aged in 100% French oak barrells.

The winery, by the way, sits atop a hill in the rural Russian River Valley overlooking the valley. It’s gorgeous.

I can’t remember what I paid for it at the winery that far back, but found it on the internet for $43.99. That sounds about right. Some people just won’t spend that kind of money on one bottle of wine and I understand that completely. But if they could indulge in just one glass of this well-made Pinot Noir, they might just begin to understand.

During the holidays we gather with friends and family. There’s no better time to open a special bottle of wine. The Farrell Pinot was just delightful.

I took the photo at left during my 2006 visit. The winery is one of the area’s most beautiful.

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Tempranillo is THE wine grape in Spain. I became a big fan of Spain’s tempranillo-based wines 2-3 years ago.

The wines are a great alternative to Cabs and Merlot for steak, or about any food really! The good ones have an herbal nose and similar taste characteristic. The great ones have a silky taste in the mouth and on the finish.

I was on a wine-buying binge this past week in Indianapolis picking up wines at three of my favorite stores. At Cork and Cracker, at 62nd and Keystone, it was actually other customers who pointed me to Twisted Oak’s Tempranillo.

The shop owners had convinced me to buy a bottle of TO’s Cabernet this summer. It is still in my wine rack. But when 2-3 different, unrelated folks say its a great wine – in a great wine shop – then that’s good enough for me to try it.

I had not planned on opening it so soon, but Sunday night my curiousity got the best of me. The 2005 Tempranillo was one of the best bottles of wine I had opened in several weeks.

It was rich and smooth and it does go down with a silky finish. Wine Enthusiast gave this wine 90 points. It retails anywhere from $19-$24. I paid $23.

It’s a great buy at that price and worth checking out.

By the way, Twisted Oak has a great and fun website. Check it out here.

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I’ve been lucky through the years. I’ve only opened a few bottles of wine that had gone bad.

I opened a bottle of 2005 Bordeaux from the Medoc region Friday night and didn’t pay much attention to it as I poured two glasses. I took one quick whiff and thought the nose was rather odd. But it was a quick smell and I thought I’d let it open up a bit and then see what was going on with this inexpensive Bordeaux.

I handed my friend a glass and we sat down to watch television. I got my nose into the glass then and it was pretty clear to me it had gone bad. I took a drink and was convinced.

I had a bottle of corked wine. Read more here. It’s not that difficult to tell. You don’t have to be an expert.

I asked my friend if he smelled a vinegar-like odor .. and he tried again. He said “it smells like cider” and that was good enough for me. He also took a sip, made a squiggled face and then I poured the wine down the sink. I couldn’t remember where I bought it.

It happens. There are wine professionals who say it can happen as often as once every 10-20 bottles. I have been lucky, I guess, because it’s never happened to me at that rate.

Now, if it happens to you here is what you do. First, do not pour it out. Just stick the cork back in it and return it to the place of purchase as soon as you can.

Most retailers will replace the bottle or give you purchase price credit because their wholesalers will do the same for them. If they don’t take the corked bottle and replace it for you, find another wine store.

Stinky wine. Corked wine. Spoiled wine. It happens.

The artwork above: Peter – The Family Guy – protected by trademark registered by Twentieth Century Fox.

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I once heard someone say its hard to find a nice Cabernet Sauvignon under $20. And, I would largely agree with that assessment. But there are some exceptions.

I stumbled across one recently. I find very few under $20 that I think are worth drinking. It’s why I recommend Malbecs and Spanish wines to friends.

The wine was a 2006 Domaine Jean Bousquet Cabernet. Jean Bousquet was born in France where he worked the family vinyards until buying land at the base of the Andes mountains in the Mendoza region of Argentina.

I always research wines online and was mildy surprised to see Wine Spectator gave this wine an 87 .. a pretty high rating.

I thought the wine was nice, but rather unremarkable. It was very smooth and soft tannins and easy to drink. It would be a great Cab for a new wine drinker. I enjoyed it, but just didn’t find anything memorable or remarkable about it. It wasn’t the big bold flavors I love in a Cab. But that being said, I might buy it again and would heartily recommend it to anyone who is relatively new to Cabernet Sauvignon.

It is certainly better than anything you’ll find in a grocery. I bought this one at Mass Ave. Wine shop in Indy for $12.99.

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I emerged from my Malbec fasciation tonight to pop open a bottle of a really nice Spanish Rioja Red.

Vina Salceda Rioja Crianza is a beauty for the $12-$15 price point. I thought the taste was big and rich. The tannins were pretty smooth on the mid palate. This was just a very nice value bottle of wine.

If you are new to Spanish wines know that they age them before sale. This wine, as an example, is aged 15 months in American oak and then another six months in the bottle before it’s released for sale.

This 2004 bottling got 85-to-upper 80s in most reviews I found. For the price, it’s a really nice wine. The blend is dominated by the great tempranillo (90%) with some Graciano (5%) and Mazuelo (5%)

The alcohol is light at 13%. I’d put this nice wine near the top of my list to show people you can drink great red wine for under $15.

I bought this bottls for $15 at Mass Ave. Wine Shop in Indianapolis. If you see it, buy it!

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Since the day I converted this blog to just writing about wine, I’ve been in a “Malbec” sort of mood. I do that … going from varietal to varietal in a 2-3 week or month period.

Several weeks back I picked up a bottle of Malbec Rose’. I have had rose’ made from almost every imaginable grape, but didn’t recall having a Malbec version.

I bought it for the novelty, and knowing I love Malbecs, and then today learned it was from a very prominent winemaker in Argentina’s Mendoza Valley. And, the winemaker is also known as one of the country’s top female producers.

Crios by Susana Balbo (2008) was the wine I brought home for Thanksgiving. Reisling, Pinot Grigio, and Pinot Noir are often recommended for your Thanksgiving picks and those are great choices. But if you want to be a little more original try a dry Rose’ with the turkey.

Again, the wine was a 2008 – a very young wine. It had a typical Rose’ nose of strawberry. And for a wine at 14 percent alcohol it had little burn. It was very easy to drink and a wine I wouldn’t hesitate to serve guests.

From Susana on the bottle: “meant to be enjoyed during its vibrant youth” is how Balbo introduces the wine. Old-vine malbec grapes create a richer, spicier wine than most other rose’s from around the world.”

I enjoyed this one a lot. It’s smooth, yet a rich and balanced mouthful of wine.

It’s very affordable too. I bought this bottle at Village Bottle Shop in Lafayette. With these type wines the price varies wildly. I paid under $10 for this bottle but I found it on the internet at around $12.

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I believe I once read there are more than 5,000 grape varietals being used to make wine all around the world. I believe it.

Two years ago I was in San Francisco at a very cool, small wine bar and read about Bonarda – from Argentina – on the menu. So I tried it. The wine I remember was big flavors, deep cherry, smokey, and very interesting.

So a week ago I was pleasantly surprised to find a 100 percent Maipe Bonarda at Vino 100 on the north side of Columbus, Ohio. I paid $15 for it. I had previously purchased Maipe Malbec and found it pretty darn good.

I opened the Bonardo tonight and now am confused. This wine, while easy to drink, didn’t have any of the strong characteristics I remember from my previous experience. It was very drinkable, but not memorable. This was a 2008, so it was very young.

I got on the internet and did some ‘bonarda research.’ I found a wine blogger comparing it to Merlot, an insult to this noble grape – but he might have been on to something. While this particular Bonarda was certainly drinkable, it had no outstanding characteristic. They usually are first described with the word I used above: smokey.

The Maipe bottling was from Argentina. It’s believed to be similar to the Charbono grape seen sparingly in California, or more likely Bonarda Piemontese from Italy.

Nevertheless, it has spurred me to look for a bigger and better Bonardo wine – like the one I loved in the city by the Bay.

For the adventurous, I’d say pick up a bottle any time you can find one. It’s very inky in color. It has a certain mineral or earthy quality that “big” wine drinkers will enjoy.

Maipe was a mystery. I had a hard time making up my mind on this wine. But I intend on finding another Bonarda for comparison.
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In my newspaper column “Grape Sense” I keep the wines to those under $20 or so. I do invest in some higher-end wines for special occasions.

Tonight is a bit of a special occasion for a very good friend, so before dinner I opened a bottle of 2003 Robert Stemmler Carneros Pinot Noir.

Stemmler was widely recognized as California’s Pinot pioneer for years and years before much of the wine world fell in love with Pinot. He retired in 1989 and sold the winery that still bears his name.

The 2003 Pinot is a beautiful wine with a beautiful nose that gives you the essence of good Pinot. It has that delightful “stank” or “barnyard smell” of a good Pinot. It’s a big fruit foward Pinot that has a silky smooth finish. I like it for the big mouthful of Pinot flavor as it hits the tongue. This wine generally sells for $32-$38.

That makes it a special occasion wine for me and for most others. For some people that is a lot of money for a bottle of wine – and it is! But you will have a better idea of where the price points make such a significant difference in wine quality.

I have seen Stemmler wine at Vine and Table in Carmel. The Carneros is fabulous Pinot. They also do another bottling that is just slightly more expensive from the Russian River Valley. If you have the choices and it’s just a couple of bucks, I’d recommend the Russian River bottling but both are great wines.

If you find either and like Pinot, buy them. I’d recommend letting them breathe at least a half hour if not an hour before enjoying. A good decanter will give them the oxygen to be just right when you are ready to pour.

The Stemmler wines are an old California name but worthy of others being sold at higher prices.

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Yes, I’ve pretty much restricted my blogging to wine but great wine goes best with great food. I had an experience Nov. 7 in Cleveland which must be shared.

While there in Cleveland for a Saturday Wabash College football game, I was able to dine at Lola’s in downtown on Friday night. Lola’s is owned by Food Network Star and Celebrity Chef Michael Symon.

Four of us ordered different entres and desserts and all were raving about the food. I started with a cauliflower and almond soup. The white cauliflower was carmelized then pureed. It was poured at the table over a mixture of bacon bits, some herbs and raisins. With each bite you got a different sensation. With the bacon the soup was so savory but then with a raisin it tasted sweet. It was a masterpiece.

I had the black bass entre. The fish was perfectly prepared with a very crispy skin on a bed of saffron potatoes with a few mussels and clams in a lobster bisque type sauce. My friends enjoyed duck, lamb and steak all with similar rave reviews.

I’ll keep this simple – I’ve had the pleasure of dining at some top restaurants, but none surpassed Lola’s.

Oh, you have to try their french fries – yes fries, but in this case ‘Lola Fries.’ They take the thinly sliced fries and cook them in bacon fat, they are then rinsed with olive oil and given a heavy dose of Rosemary seasoning. At first I thought they tasted fatty, (duh) but soon the four of us were reaching, elbowing and grabbing at the remaining Lola Fries.

I had a glass of mediocre Sancere (French Cabnernet Sauvignon) that was ok. But the dinner was five star.

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