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Value Reds

So what is the secret to finding great value in reds at a budget friendly price?  It is tempting to wait for some those mass produced wines to go down from $11.99 to $7.99 and buy a case but some of these wines tend to be a bit of a chemistry experiment where tannin powders equals tannin and oak staves equals oak and chapitalisation equals sugar and some type of “international mystery must” composes a large component of the wine. So to spend a few dollars more to get a wine with a bit more pedigree may be worth your while…

For me, the places to find decent quality at great value would start with Spain and Portugal.  They have old world winemaking knowledge and based on land value and cost of labour can create very nice wines at the under $20 a bottle range.  I would not discount Chile and Argentina now as well.  Cost of labour and land value again are a key factor here and in recent years there have been several French and Italian wine houses that have acquired land and supported the overall local winemaking community with advanced techniques.  I have been so impressed in particular with the quality of Chilean wines over the past few years.  You can also look at the wines in the south of France Languedoc, Roussillon and Provence as great value in comparison to the more noted regions like Burgundy and Bordeaux.  Finally, consider the old world but lesser known wine countries like Romania, Hungary, Greece and Georgia.

The six wines tasted in this flight were:

Chevalier de Dyonis – Pinot Noir – 2016 (Rocky Mountain)

Porca de Murca – Douro – 2013 (Bin 905)

Les Volcans – Cotes d’Auvergne Gamay Pinot Noir – 2016 (Metrovino)

CVNE – Rioja Crianza – 2015 (Willow Park)

Torreon de Paredes – Carmenere – 2015 (J Webb)

Backyard – Nosey Neighbour Red – 2016 (Kensington Wine Market)

BUT I DID THE MATH AND…….

Best Value Wine – Porca de Murca – Douro – 2013

Best Quality Wine – CVNE – Rioja Crianza – 2015