Cheap wine for poor snobs: 2006 Tres Picos Borsao - Garnacha

Country Gay, we're back!

So, I recently discovered an affordable earthy, red wines from Europe that has delighted my palate to no end and decided it was time to revisit Cheap Wine for Poor Snobs.

The last time we took a look at an Italian Barbera D'Asti wine. This time, it's an $11 bottle of Spanish Garnacha by Tres Picos.

Here's what you need to know about Garnacha (Grenache), from the fine folks who populate Wikipedia:

"Grenache (pronounced gren-ash) (in Spanish, Garnacha) is probably the most widely planted variety of red wine grape in the world. It ripens late, so needs hot, dry conditions such as those found in Spain and in the south of France. It is generally spicy, berry-flavoured and soft on the palate with a relatively high alcohol content, but it needs careful control of yields for best results."

The wine is an impressive dark cherry and deep plum color and it may very well be the most fragrant red I've encountered at this price. I mean, it smelled GOOD. Inexpensive wine tends to have an overpowering smell of alcohol, but this was so much more.

The taste is just as complex as the fragrance and takes about two or three sips before the smoothness kicks in. The first sip or two was slightly overpowered by a distinct peppery spiciness that lingered in my throat for a minute or so.

I don't recommend drinking the Garnacha with super flavorful foods because of how complex the wine itself is. It's fantastic on its own or with mild foods. I imagine it would be great with a hearty steak. I started drinking it with a very flavorful pesto and pimento pasta dish and ended up ditching the wine until I was just down to some nice toasted Italian bread with a basic marinara sauce. It complimented those very basic flavors perfectly.

It's been rated 90-91 by the major wine publications, which is quite an accomplishment for a bottle of wine that sells for less than $15 in most stores that carry it. Unfortunately, I don't think it it's as widely distributed as it should be, so you might have a hard time finding it. But, if you do come across the label at a reasonable price... grab it, stat!

One interesting note: The foil on this bottle is thick as hell! Pick up a foil cutter if you don't already have one as this foil will likely slice your finger off. You've been warned.

Now let's get hammered,
City Gay

Cheap wine for poor snobs: 2004 Michele Chiarlo - Barbera D'Asti

Welcome back, Country Gay!

Let's get this party started up again with some fermented grape juice, shall we?

I'm constantly on the lookout for great deals on delicious wine because I'm always poor and slightly alcoholic.

My goal, usually, is to keep the price to ten dollars and score a label I've never tried. When it comes to preference, I'll always seek out a dry, earthy European red with just a hint of fruit to make it "accessible." It could very well be in my head, but I feel like I can taste the history of the grape in those wines, you know?

Anyway, I HATE really sweet wines for the most part, but occasionally I'll have one that isn't offensive, so I'm never going to say never when it comes to wine. I do LOVE wine that's versatile enough for sipping amongst friends or pairing with any damned thing I feel like cooking.

So that's easy enough on ten bucks, right? Not usually. Usually I end up with a bottle of sludge that I drink anyway because, again, slightly alcoholic.

But tonight I got LUCKY! (not the dirty kind of lucky. yet.)



Michele Chiarlo - Barbera D'Asti 2004

Now the grocery store I hit up tonight (QFC) claims this is a $17 bottle of wine, but gave it to me for $10.99 out of the kindness of their hearts and because I have a QFC Advantage Card. But after a bit of Internet research, I discovered it's typically ten bucks anyway, so I'VE GOT YOUR NUMBER QFC!!!

But that doesn't detract from the fact that this is a fantastic bottle of wine for the price. Barbera, by the way, is a varietal of grape from Italy and Asti is the city within the Piedmont region of Italy in which these particular grapes were grown.

I found this wine to be an awesome sipping wine and went well with our salmon dinner tonight, but I've read it's real strength is when it's paired with strong flavors such as a hearty marinara sauce (it is from Italy after all). Order a bottle of Barbera instead of Chianti in Little Italy and I bet you'll sound less of an ignorant American for your efforts. Not talking about you, Country Gay. The others.

Wine Spectator apparently rated it an 86, but those numbers never mean anything to me anyway. I just want it to taste good and cost about the same as two value meals at Wendy's.

So, if you can't find it in any of your local stores, give Wine.com a try because the wine and the site both kick major tokhes.

- City Gay out