Budget Vino

French wine anyone? Serabel Cote du Rhone '05

I definitely lack exposure to French wines. So, when I did my little shopping spree at Bev Mo, I made a conscious effort to pickup something French. My choice was the Serabel Cotes-du-Rhone 2005.

Before I get into my review of this wine, I think it might be helpfull to shed some light on Cotes-du-Rhone. I've always been a little confused about whether Cotes-du-Rhone was a wine type, or a wine region. It turns out that it's a region in France. I'll freely admit, I'm far from fluent in French geography. So here is some information from About.com on Cotes-du-Rhone.

A little about the Cotes-du-Rhone area:

This is one of the larger appellations in Francis, stretching along the banks of the Rhone river from Vienne to Valence, almost to Avignon. 

Wines that carry the appellation controlée Côtes du Rhône can come from any part of the area between Vienne and Pertuis. There are over 10,000 producers making around 300 million bottles of Côtes du Rhône every year. The dominant grape is Grenache, followed by Syrah, Mourvèdre and the Cinsault.

The very basic appellation controlée is labeled simply as Côtes du Rhône.

Back to the review of this wine...

So this wine is a Serabel- whatever the hell that is. Tastes like a thin Pino to me- which at first is kind of annoying. However, the flavor does catch up, and it starts to taste pretty good. Generally, it's an easy wine to drink, and I would recommend it to people who don't like white wine, but who want a wine to drink on a hot summer day.

Recommendation: Consider buying it

Wine with a Spanish twist- Hoya de Cadenas Tempranillo

Living in California, I often find it difficult to locate good wines produced elsewhere. The closest stores to my apartment only sell California wines, so my international options are definitely limited. That's why I thank the lord for bringing me Bev Mo.

This past Saturday, I took a little trip to the Bev Mo to partake in the 5 cent sale (discussed in an earlier posting). There, I was introduced to a Spanish Tempranillo '02 wine produced by a winery I had never heard of- Hoya de Cadenas.

Fact is, I'm not sure if I've ever tasted a Tempranillo. Having no idea what to expect, I cracked open the bottle of wine, decanted it (one of the three tips), and poured myself a nice tall glass. For the first time ever, I sipped wine and my only thoughts were of food. People always talk about wine pairings with food, but it's usually lost on me. I can drink just about any wine with just about any food. However, this time it was very specific. All I wanted to do was get some spicy meat dish and chow down- and that's exactly what I did.

The wine went GREAT with my spicy meal. It paired so well that i'll probably search it out next time I'm cooking something with a kick. I think it went so well because it is a heavy and spicy wine. So, if you like light red wines, you probably want to avoid this one.

If you do want to pick up a bottle of this wine and you live near a Bev Mo, get there as soon as you can. With the 5 cent sale savings, each bottle comes in at a little less than $5!!

Recommendation: Definitely Buy It