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Best wine for under $40

Wakeforest22890 said:
Aging wine on the lees (dead yeast) and stirring it as it sits in barrels (batonnage) gives wine autolytic characteristics (sourdough, brioche, creamy notes). Some champagne, Chardonnay, etc on the nose smells like you just walked into a French bakery. It produces some of my favorite styles of wine
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My wife as well, but I'm not sure we are sophisticated enough (palate, experience) to understand the reason why one hits harder than the other but I love the Ted talk
 
Wakeforest22890 said:
Sipping a sparkling 2021 St. Laurent from Cruse Wine company out of California. Was expecting it to be a Blancs de Noir when I opened it but it’s a rose style. St. Laurent normally grown in Austria but like most grapes California has the microclimates to basically make any wine you want to if you find the right locations. Cap top and definitely made in a “natural” style. Creamy, red fruit, cherry, strawberry, a light mousse and just great by itself while sitting on the couch. Also look at this label. Sexy.

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Back drop's not bad either
 
Wakeforest22890 said:
I'd say at that price point it's a solid option. I have not had the Cordella personally but it seems to have good reviews overall. For two reasons you're likely to find 2017 Brunellos priced a little bit more reasonably than you might otherwise expect: 1) it was a hotter and dryer year than most and this (obviously) impacted the quality and 2) coming off of 2015 and 2016 - two exceptional years in Tuscany - the 2017s are not going to be as sought after for long term cellaring.

Of course top tier producers make exceptional wine in Montalcino regardless of vintage, so the major impact is just on the "lesser-known" houses putting out wines.

TLDR; for under $30 for Brunello it's definitely worth it but probably isn't going to knock your socks off. I mean you're buying a Brunello for the same price as some of the Rossos from other producers
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got damn I love me a sme ( hi kory )
 
Went to dinner last night and one of the Brunellos we had in Italy (Col D’Orcia 2018) was $120 on the menu, but we paid 45 euros at a restaurant and bought another bottle for 40 euros (that we’ll give my mom but I’m hoping she’ll wanna drink with us).
 
Yeah it also goes through multiple levels to get here from Italy: export/import, distributor, restaurant (or retail) so every additional hand in the pot drives those costs up. Also I’m sure California wine is considerably less expensive than in Italy even if the markup abroad isn’t as big
 
Well the time is here for Numbers Second Annual Wines of the Year (TM) post. The thing still absolutely nobody asked for yet will still get! This is not strictly the "best 10" wines I had overall but instead including value, quality, and certainly the ever-present "what were you doing when you drank this and how did it impact how much you enjoyed it list." Some of these I've mentioned or given tasting notes for already but this is now all in one place! Here are the first five. I kicked it off with some of the heavier hitters.

In no specific order at all:

1991 Donhoff Oberhauser Leistenburg Riesling: I just wrote about this in the last few days but a quick recap. On the nose, honey and honeysuckle, dried apricot, almost thinking a dessert style wine at this stage without tasting - I've had Sauternes from Bordeaux that had similar notes. Plenty of fruit, but still certainly floral. On the palate, pretty similar, light to medium body, it clearly has some sugar in it contributing to the body but the acidity was still medium to high (mouth was watering). This isn't exactly widely available. I'd say the market value is probably in the $100-$115 range if you can find it.

2021 Cruse St. Laurent: Out of Petaluma in California. These are pretty unique wines with a distinctive "California twist" and "often with bubbles" (per their own website!). Berries and cream, slight sweetness, strawberry, light melon, and orange rind. Very long finish, crisp and fresh on the palate. $35-$40 on the shelf.

1997 Mastroberadino Taurasi Radici Riserva: 100% Aglianico and almost certainly the best producer in Campania, making wine in the best region for Aglianico in the world (Taurasi). I see this region referred to as the "Barolo of the south" for its structure, aging, history, and notoriety but I've always found that a little odd a comparison because while the structure and tannins may be somewhat similar, the flavor profiles are wildly different as are the aromatic notes. Dark cherry, brambly fruit, well integrated tannins on the finish which just went on and on and on, clove, tobacco, forest floor and earthy notes working harmoniously with the fruit. Phenomenal wine drinking in its prime. Pops up on Winebid every now and then opening at $75 or so...market value for this wine is probably in the $175-$200 range.

1999 Col D'Orcia Brunello di Montalcino: Red cherry and cranberry but fruit definitely starting to fade yielding into mocha, cocoa notes and yet again an earthy undertone with some light balsamic notes (which I find in a lot of older Brunello that are in a great drinking window). Fruit starting to be more in the stewed category. I was fortunate enough to have this back-to-back with the previous Mastroberardino at an event and that was...quite the evening. Market value around $200.

2017 Talisman Starscape Vineyard Pinot Noir: Medium-body with high acidity, baking spice, black cherry, violets, a little bit of that forest floor note with a touch of green tea, lightly earthy. Just wonderful. Beautiful by itself and absolutely stands up to a decent amount of food. 30% whole cluster, Russian River Valley, native fermentation, drank a bit like a Sonoma Coast Pinot, 50% new French oak (20 months). $75-$80 MSRP. I want to host a wine dinner in the spring with the portfolio manager. Talisman has vineyards throughout California and they have several fantastic single vineyard offerings - I had the 2013 Wildcat Vineyard a few years back and I still think about it.
 
Second five of Numbers Top 10 Wines of the Year:

Beckmen Vineyards 2020 Grenache: One of the better Grenaches I've had from California over the past few years. From the Santa Ynez Valley in Santa Barbara, this was much lighter than I was expecting and contrasted pretty well between a lot of the other "Rhone Ranger" wines (California wine makers who started growing GSM blends from South France in California) especially the Terre Rouge line from Bill Easton which I've tasted through several of this year. Shockingly light in color in the glass, neutral oak 130 gallon barrel, strawberry, red cherry, light earthy note to it - I would not have picked this out as Grenache in a blind taste. This is around $30 MSRP.

Heitz Cellar 2018 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon: A couple months ago I had the opportunity to taste through the most recent releases out of Heitz Cellar with one of our reps and the East Coast portfolio manager for the group Heitz Cellar is in. A little background, Heitz Cellar is one of THE classic Napa Valley wineries - involved in the Judgment of Paris - and are notable for making, unapologetically, their own wine regardless of the trends in the region. The portfolio manager shared with us that they took pride in reading Robert Parker's review every year where he gave the wines a good score but consistently lamented the lack of "oomph" in the mid-palate. Heitz takes pride in their restrained almost Old World production even in an era where "bigger, riper, bolder = better" for Napa Valley.

With that in mind, this specific bottle admittedly was not even the best bottle of the lineup (credit goes to the Heitz 2017 Martha's Vineyard) BUT sitting around $85-90 on the shelf this was the wine that stood out in my mind. For comparison, MSRP for the Martha's Vineyard (their flagship and most famous wine) is over +$300. Intensely floral on the nose, violets, black cherry, blueberry, a little boysenberry but with a little red fruit tucked in as well - cranberry maybe?- this was a medium body wine with high acidity, smooth tannins, and an extremely long finish. We took in a case after tasting and I sold through my store's allocation in two weeks. This is a perfect Christmas wine.

Lieselhof Julian 2018 Orange: From the obscure Bronner grape, grown predominantly in Northeast Italy (I had never heard of this grape before and I have not seen another wine from Bronner since), this is one of the best "orange" wines I've ever had. Apricot, orange, tangerine and an underlying baking spice, this had plenty of acidity and citrus notes on opening. As it warmed up in the glass more of the oak notes came out - aged for 18+ months in neutral oak, not that common for this style of wine. It was even better day two, better integration, not quite as tart. You could age this bottle if you can find it. I know Eataly has sold this as well in the past but it is limited production overall and even less exported. $35-40 MSRP.

Clos Cibonne Tibouron Tradition Rose 2015: 8 year old aged Tibouron and one of the classic houses of the region making age worthy roses (Domaine Tempier and their Mourvèdre probably the most famous). Orange/salmon in the glass. Full body, waxy, smelled like you’re sitting on a balcony at the beach salinity wise. Orange zest, light apricot, and an oxidative/nutty quality from spending a year under flor (normally used in sherry). Paid $55 and that's probably close to MSRP but well worth it. Has another few years age wise.

Famille Dutraive Beaujolais Villages Lantignie 2020: I am a sucker for Beaujolais with top production showcasing some of the best natural winemaking available. There can be a lot of bottle variation because of the hands off minimal intervention style a lot of top houses employ (limited SO2 added for bottling increases the likelihood of some faults occurring) but when these producers hit they REALLY hit. And that was the case with this bottle from Famille Dutraive. Not even Cru Beaujolais, but a step "below" sourcing from multiple vineyards across the region, this had watermelon, strawberry, and was absolutely translucent in the glass with fresh fruit, and a beautiful aromatic nose but not over the top with the carbonic maceration notes. VERY light. $35 or so MSRP, I've tossed this into the rotation with Yann Bertrand's wines from the region as some of my favorite.

What have y'all had this year that stood out? Always love hearing about new wines to add to my list as well!
 
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Wakeforest22890 said:
The Joaquin up right now is one of the best Fiano producers in the world.
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