Budget Vino

A surprising wine find in a small UK town- Deakin Estate 2004 Shiraz

If you've read my previous post, you know that right now I am working away on a consulting project in Wootton Bassett, UK.  After work each evening, I return to my hotel, and am pretty much forced into solitary confinement until a co-worker picks me up for work the next morning. Why am I in solitary? Well, there is literally nothing to do in Wootton Bassett, or in the nearest town of Swindon. My only nighttime option is to check email and have a couple drinks.

(I've pasted in a map showing the location of Wootton Bassett and Swindon, as I doubt that any of you have heard of either town.)

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This brings me to the great surprise of this trip....

The hotel I am staying at (The DeVere Hotel Shaw Ridge) is pretty darn nice- especially given its location. As part of the hotel's customer service program, each day, housekeeping places a complimentary small bottle of red wine on my hotel room desk (unheard of in the US). There the bottle sits all day, waiting for me to return to my room, graciously offering to help numb my boredom.

The complimentary wine is a Deakin Estate 2004 Shiraz from Australia. Now I'm not sure if it's the environment playing tricks on my taste buds, or the fact that it's provided at no cost, but this wine is actually really good. The Deakin is dark and rich. It's fruity, but without offense. Overall, it's a tasty wine that is most certainly comparable to so many other "definite buy" wines I've reviewed in the past.

I did a little research, and it looks like this wine can be purchased for about $5 a bottle in the US. For that price, I'll definitely be seeking it out when I return home. The company just released their Shiraz 2005 vintage. I'm curious how it compares to the 2004. Maybe I'll sneak a bottle home so I can compare...

If you're searching for a wine that pairs well with a bad day or a bad English meal (of which I've had too many to count), this may just be the one you've been looking for.

Recommendation: Definite buy (pending confirmation once out of tiny UK town)

I apologize for the hiatus...

It's been a couple weeks since I've written a Budget Vino posting, and for this I apologize. You see, I am currently on a job assignment in the UK. What was supposed to be a 2 week work jaunt has been extended, and at this point I have no idea when I will see America again.

I'm stationed in a town called Wootton Bassett. To imagine Wootton Bassett, picture a suburb of a suburb of a small city (maybe 150,000 people). It truly is that small! As you can imagine, the wine options in such a place are very limited.

This weekend, I am off to a town called Bath. About 30 minutes from Wootton Bassett, and about 1.5 to 2 hours from London, the town is a global heritage site. With such a classification, surely there will be some decent wine to review. Stay tuned to see if this hypothesis turns out to be correct!

1 Barbeque + 1 Excellent budget Pinot Noir = Awesome Saturday!

This past Saturday, I met up with my good friend Brett for a couple beers at a local San Francisco bar called Zeitgeist. On a sunny day, this bar is one of my favorites. It has a huge patio, a very alternative crowd, and some killer beers on tap. After 1 hour and a pitcher later, Brett and I picked up with wife and baby, and headed to our friend David's bbq fiesta.

As we walked, Brett and I contemplated what type of alcohol we should bring with us to the party. Having had our fill of beer, we decided that nothing would work better than a couple bottles of budget wine. Given it was hot out, we had to be careful about the varietal we chose. Choose something too heavy (like a merlot) and risk being perpetually thirsty. Pick something too light, and never be satisfied. In the end, we decided the best wine for this awesome Saturday was a Pinot Noir. 

The only liquor store in the vicinity was this mildly disgusting shop a few blocks away from Brett's house. At first I thought we'd never locate anything of quality, but then Brett found a wine that he swore was a budget top choice.

The wine was a Mont Pellier Pinot Noir. It retailed at this liquor store for $9.99, but Brett informed me that he had paid as little as $7 for the same bottle.

We arrived at the BBQ and before we could even say hello to the host, we had cracked open our first bottle of Mont Pellier. I gave it about 3 seconds to breath before I took my first sip. Verdict? Awesome! This Pinot was smooth, oddly refreshing, and had a very slight aftertaste. It went well with every tidbit of food that I was able to get my hands on- twice baked potatoes, artichoke dip, salt and pepper chips, chicken apple sausage, and a few others I can't seem to recollect.

This wine was so good that I can foresee this Pinot becoming a staple in my budget wine collection. And you never know, maybe the disgusting liquor store will become my new hang out!

Recommendation: Definitely Buy It

Update: Passionate and loyal reader Gunnar Ostergren found me a picture of the Mont Pellier. Thanks man!!