Comments on: From Lafite to Lemonade, Cabernet Sauvignon to Cabernet Franc: Wine in the White House

By: Shea

Shea — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 03:04:30 +0000

Cool. Looking forward to tasting that vintage too.

By: vinicultured

vinicultured — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 15:09:26 +0000

Bethy–

It’s easier in California to find good American wines for under $15–for instance, GustavoThrace’s “The Third Bottle” (CA) or Chateau Ste. Michelle’s entry-level cabernet (WA). There’s often a significant markup of American wines–especially Californian wines–on the East Coast, I’ve found. For instance, I was fortunate enough to find Sean Thackery’s “Pleaides XVI” at the Georgetown Dean & DeLuca–for nearly double the retail price in California ($46 versus $26). Nonetheless, I think there are those great value wines–especially in the $10-$20 range–that people have been embracing for their nicer home-cooked meals.

Shea–

What a coincidence! I hosted a wine tasting on Friday and one of the guests busted open a really splendid Ribera Del Duero whose name I made sure to write down: the 2005 Arrocal. Not 2004, as in yours, but still quite good–intense, evocative of a dry river bed. =)

By: Shea

Shea — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 02:17:05 +0000

Speaking of good values – check out Arrocal from the 2004 vintage in Ribera del Duero. Cheap and quite fantastic.

By: bethy1810

bethy1810 — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 14:17:21 +0000

I think that a big problem with Americans adopting wine as a more everyday libation is that for so long, it was hard to get decent-but-affordable wine. While we’re seeing more of that come down the line in recent years, it’s still not like going into a grocery store in Europe where you can pick up a really good bottle for three euro. We’re too obsessed with price automatically equating quality, and with the aforementioned Franzias and Carlo Rossis of the world dominating that value category here for so long, only now are we starting to see better alternatives.

I’m optimistic, though, that it will improve, especially as US vinters create better-quality wines at prices that can go lower than $15 a bottle.