Don’t Fear Inexpensive Wines

In August, I sat down with Dale Gordon DeSena, director of Taste of Atlanta, to sketch out some wine seminars to present at the annual festival that takes over Atlantic Station for two days in October. We came up with several expected sessions, such as those on Champagne, Australian wines and Georgia wines. As we brainstormed, however, I started explaining to her why some wines cost so much, while others don’t.

In the red-brick office building on that summer afternoon, a seminar was born. Well, not really a seminar, but more of a game show that had attendees trying to pick out the expensive bottle ($35) from the other three wines that were less than $12 each. The seminar/game show, called “The Price is Right?”, was a hit for the 160 or so who participated over the two days.

The point was not to indict pricey wines (in this case, it was the Beaulieu Vineyards’ Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon). I explained that the market bids up the prices of wines, especially those made from well-known types of grapes (like cabernet sauvignon), from small, exclusive areas (like the tiny Rutherford region of Napa Valley) and from wineries with a reputation for quality.

As the attendees sipped and voted, I described strategies for finding tasty wines that don’t cost a lot. I told them to look for “weird” grape types, such as gewürztraminer, carménère and sémillon. I also suggested choosing wines from unfamiliar regions like Greece, southern Italy and Portugal. And I made it plain that wines under screw-caps and in boxes should not be considered inferior merely by the packaging.

The vast majority of the attendees enjoyed all the wines. The votes were evenly spread among the four selections, which included Col di Sasso, a sangiovese/cabernet sauvignon blend in a screw-capped bottle from Banfi Vintners in Italy; Monte Oton, a garnacha-based wine from Campo de Borja in northeastern Spain and, to the gasps of many, a shiraz from California’s Central Coast that came in a box from Black Box Wines.

All the lesser expensive wines were under $12 for a standard bottle, with the Black Box coming in at six bucks ($24 for the equivalent of four 750 milliliter bottles). A number of the contestant/attendees came up to me afterward amazed that they mistook a boxed wine for a prestigious Napa cabernet sauvignon. Other had me spell out Campo de Borja.

It’s one thing for the wine guy to stump an audience with a few exceptional, inexpensive wines, but it’s quite another thing for that audience to go forward by itself to not only find the game show wines, but other wines just like them. How would my seminar fledglings fare outside the ballroom at the Twelve Hotel?

Pretty well, I’m sure. Because before they flocked out the doors and back to the festival, I told them this: “You guys don’t need know-it-alls like me or seminars to find great wines; you need a decent wine shop with a knowledgeable staff to lead you to the winners.” OK, it doesn’t hurt to go shopping with a little knowledge in hand, but the sales associates in Atlanta’s wine stores know what is in their market and can steer you to the best deals.

To prove my point, I went to several wine shops around town and asked for inexpensive wines that may seem a little foreign to average wine drinkers because of the grape, region or packaging. I was not disappointed.

Overachieving Anthony Dixon, general manager and wine consultant for Toco Hills Giant Wines in Decatur couldn’t resist picking La Vieille Ferme, a rosé wine that matched all three criteria. It’s a screw top, it comes from France’s Côtes du Ventoux and it’s made mostly with cinsault and grenache grapes.

“This is going to be one of my Thanksgiving recommendations,” says Dixon, who’s been on the Atlanta wine scene for more than 20 years. “It rates very high by people who taste wines, including me.” Cost? Dixon sells it for $8.

Michael Bishop the wine director of Green’s two Atlanta bottle shops finds easy choices in Spain. “Spain has such a plethora of great reds from unknown regions for under $10,” he said. “Right now, I love the ’07 Borgia from Campo de Borja. It’s 75 percent grenache and 25 percent tempranillo. It goes for $6.99 a bottle. That’s hard to beat.”

Bryan Spann, the wine department manager for Sherlock’s Wine Merchant in Marietta immediately went way south of the border for his picks. Chile and Argentina remain near the epicenter of deliciously inexpensive wines, especially when customers look beyond cabernet sauvignon and chardonnay.

“The Gascón Malbec goes for $9.99 and cab drinkers love this wine,” Spann said. He also likes the Santa Carolina Carménère from Chile’s Rapel Valley as a cure for ho-hum cabernet sauvignons from just about anywhere. Spann is also not shy about pointing skeptical customers toward boxed wines from Delicato and Black Box.

For wine drinkers still not sure about screw caps, let alone boxed wines, Warren Dennis, wine department manager for Roswell Beverage offers Woop Woop Shiraz from Australia. It has a Zork closure, a device that allows users to twist out the plastic “cork” by hand without a corkscrew. He also likes Shoofly Buzz Cut White, also from Australia. It’s an unlikely combination of viognier, riesling, chardonnay, verdelho and sémillon that goes for $12.

During these tough economic times, wine drinkers need not fear drinking less expensive wines from nameless regions. In this dark hour, we must face our fears or risk retreat into drinking lesser wines.

This week, Gil Kulers hands over the inexpensive, alternative wine picks to retailers Warren Dennis, Anthony Dixon, Michael Bishop and the camera-shy Bryan Spann. Thank you, gentlemen, for helping me put together this list.

Warren Dennis, wine department manager for Roswell Beverage.

Anthony Dixon, general manager for Toco Hills Giant Wines.

Michael Bishop the wine director for Green’s.

Warren Dennis, wine department manager for Roswell Beverage, suggests:

2007 Shoofly Buzz Cut White, Australia

• $12

• Fresh flavors and aromas of white fruits with clean, crisp acidity. It goes with a wide variety of seafood, appetizers or poultry, like Thanksgiving turkey.

Anthony Dixon, general manager for Toco Hills Giant Wines, suggests:

2007 La Vieille Ferme Rosé, Côtes du Ventoux, France

• $8

• Round, clean and balanced, it has a nose of watermelon, strawberry and dry cherry. It is forward in fruit but still has depth.

Michael Bishop, the wine director for Green’s Bottle Shops, suggests:

2007 Hugues Beaulieu Picpoul de Pinet,
Coteaux du Languedoc, France

• $9.50

• Tastes like a muscadet. It is light to medium bodied with lively acidity. It has no oak and a crisp fruit character filled with lemon and citrus. Perfect for seafood.

Bryan Spann, wine department manager for
Sherlock’s Wine Merchant at Town Center, Marietta, suggests:

2006 Santa Carolina, Carménère, Rapel Valley, Chile

• $7

• Medium to full bodied, it has a lot of red berry fruit with a little bit of leather and tobacco leaf. It has many interesting characteristics, especially for a $7 bottle.