Budget Vino

A tale of 2 Sebeka's, part 1- Sebeka Shiraz from South Africa

Not even a week ago, I was introduced to a wine that was so good, I'm contemplating adding it to my list of "Top Choices." The wine was a tasty Shiraz from South Africa, brought to us by the people at Sebeka winery.

This wine was smooth and seemed to get better with every sip. I enjoyed it on its own, and also with some awesome homemade Teriyaki chicken wings (happy to share the recipe). I've tried a lot of mediocre wines lately, and it was great to finally find a new budget bottle that tasted great.

Fellow wine bloggers at Box Wines liked this wine, but not as much me it seems. Read their review here.

When at the store the other day, I picked up a bottle of Sebeka's other offering- a Cabernet Pinotage. I am definitely curious whether it will live up to the quality of the Shiraz...Review of this wine to follow...Keep posted.

Recommendation: Definitely buy it.

Move over cheese, wine has a new best friend...Chocolate!

A couple days ago (after a fine Thai food meal), I stumbled upon arguably one of my greatest finds yet in San Francisco- The San Francisco Chocolate Factory.

Why was this such a great find? Well, aside from the obvious, the SF Chocolate Factory has a product line called "Wine Lovers Chocolate." Based on the % of cocoa, each wine varietal is matched with a different type of chocolate. Take a look at the pairings they recommend.

Wine Type            % Cocoa
Zinfandel                72%
Syrah                      61%
Merlot                    58%       
Pinot Noir               56%
Cabernet                55%
Port                       54%   

If you want to learn more, click on the image below, or go to their website. I tested out their Zinfandel recommendation the other day, and it was spot on.

Let me know what you think.

McManis Pinot Noir- An excellent choice

I think of myself as an extrovert.  So much so, that when I decided to take on a new consulting project that would have me work mainly alone at home, I was a little worried. Could I handle being without human contact for days at a time? I quickly found out that I could not.

This past Monday, I woke early to get started on the mountain of client work that had been piling up. By 5pm I was getting tired of being by myself. I was desperate for some human interaction. I invited Jared and Sarah over to eat some food and watch the baseball All-Star Home Run Derby (if you haven't figured out from earlier posts, Jared and Sarah are always happy to hang out).

At about the time that we were going to turn on the TV, we realized that we were missing something critical- a bottle of wine. We quickly drove to the store. On the way there, we reached a consensus that we should grab a Pinot Noir.  We figured this type of wine would be the perfect compliment to our dinner- Trader Joe's packaged shredded BBQ pork (classy, I know). At the store, the first bottle we saw was the McManis 2006 Pinot Noir. I grabbed if off the shelf, paid, and we were on our way.

As it turned out, picking the McManis was an awesome choice. It was a great Pinot that went well with our food, and on its own. It had a great taste to it, an awesome finish, and I could imagine it complimenting almost any type of food- from a light fish to a heavy meat. We drank this wine while watching the All-Star festivities, which is fitting, given this wine will definitely be my All-Star Pinot Noir in the future.

Recommendation: Definitely buy it   

Charles Shaw Chardonnay an award winner?

I did not believe this when I first heard it, but I found an article online that confirmed what I had heard on the radio was true. Charles Shaw's Chardonnay was selected as the Best Chardonnay from California at the  California State Fair Commercial Wine Competition.

According to the Napa Valley Register, "The chardonnay received 98 points, a double gold, with accolades of Best of California and Best of Class."

Charles Shaw is often frowned upon, but it seems that $2 buck Chuck's Chardonnay is a real winner.

Here's a link to the article.

For some background information on Charles Shaw, take a read of one of my past posts.

Update:

This comment by Evan Williams was really interesting and I thought I should share. 

" To those who disparage the quality of judges in the State Fair Competition, I would inform you that the State Fair is the ONLY wine competition which requires is judges to pass a rigorous sensory evaluation test; and ongoing testing and education insure the capabilities of the judges remain sound. If you look at the credentials of the judges, you will find largely winemakers, educators, critics and a few in the retail and restaurant business. I was on the panel which scored Chales Shaw against the runner-up, the 2005 Wente Riva Ranch Chardonnay, Arroyo Seco. I voted for the French oak barrel fermented, aged sur lies and malo-lactic Wente, but a slim majority preferred the fruit forward and simple, but not unattractive, Chales Shaw. I have since purchased a case of the Charles Shaw and it is not at all like the wine submitted for judging. The recently purchased wine was redolent of potassium sorbate, a trait not present in the sample submitted for judging; in fact the winning wine did not show any evident manipulation at all. Keep in mind that with sixty million cases produced, the batch being bottled probably varies weekly! It is perfectly legal to select the absolute best lots to bottle first and submit for judging, but most consumers do not realize that the wine they purchase will likely not be anything like the wine which was evaluated in competition. This is unfortunate, but that's life... "Caveat emptor!" "

Baseball and Budget Wine? Who knew...

A number of people have sent this link to me today. It's an article written by San Francisco Chronicle Staff Writer W. Blake Gray. In it, he provides his list of favorite wines under $10. Articles like this are constantly surfacing on the internet, but this one is a little different.

W. Blake's article is called "Bargain All- Stars." In a fun way, he contrasts the world of budget wines with the world of baseball. The timing of the article is of course not coincidental, as the baseball all-star game is in San Francisco this upcoming Tuesday. It's a great read, and if you like baseball, you'll enjoy it that much more. Again, the link is:

Bargain All-Stars

Dancing Bull Cab- Not as good as the Zin, but decent nonetheless

If you're a regular Budget Vino reader, you know that I really like the Dancing Bull Zinfandel. In fact, it's one of my top choices. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to try the company's Cabernet Sauvignon offering. Lets just say, it's good, but it's not great.

Here's some context around my Dancing Bull Cab experience.

I was at a 4th of July barbecue at my friends Ivan and Alison's place. Their little daughter was playing away in her kiddie pool, and the grill was going strong. As we indulged in pretty much every type of meat you can imagine, there was a general craving for some wine. Thinking that a Cabernet Sauvignon would pair perfectly with the grilled meat, we agreed that the Dancing Bull Cab was our best option. The wine did compliment the food, but it left a bit to be desired. It lacked character and left us all a little unimpressed. It's not that it was bad, it just wasn't anything any of us would buy again.

If you're in a bind, this isn't a bad option. If you have a lot of choice, you might want to avoid this one.

Recommendation: Consider buying it