I unscrewed it tonight with a Meatless Monday dinner of pasta with fresh corn, grape tomatoes, garlic, scallions and parmesan.

Lots of parmesan.

Montes Sauvignon Blanc 2010 Leyda Valley

Producer

Grapes: 100% Sauvignon Blanc

Appellation: Leyda Valley (Chile)

Vineyards: Labeled as “Leyda Vineyard” — presumably a Montes-owned vineyard within the Leyda Valley appellation.

Vintage: 2010

Winemaking: no oak or malolactic fermentation

Alcohol: 13.5%

Price: I got it for $9.99 at Costco. Regular retail is around $15.

Tasting Notes: Crisp, lemon pith acidity cuts through the plump tropical fruit. It’s also got that green, fresh-cut grass character that I love in an SB, plus a bit of minerality at the core. It all comes together to give the sense of a wine teeming with lifeforce, like some magic elixir you could pour upon the earth in a moonlit glade and conjure an Ent. (OK, that was a weird reference).

Overall impression: I think this is a dynamite bottle of wine at $10. Great for a refreshing summer sipper to buy by the case. If you are Costco-deprived and you find it closer to $15, it’s still a good deal. VINEgeek approved. Strong B+

Free association:

Image credit: matildaben via Flickr

More info:

90 POINT ALERT: This wine was well-reviewed by the big publications, receiving a 91 from Wine & Spirits and a 90 from Wine Enthusiast.

Tastes more like 100% Smuckers.

This is a major dark berry fruitbomb. If that’s your thing, this wine is a bargain at around $10. It delivers a lotta JAM for your HAM…ilton. (groan)

It was way too much for my Taco Tuesday dinner, but actually worked pretty well with dessert — a super-sweet s’mores-like brownie thing. If you’re into drinking red wine with chocolate (me: not so much), this might be your new favorite wine.

I really wanted to like this because of the unusual blend, not to mention the oddity of Lagrein and Dolcetto in Australia at all, but this wine just isn’t a style that appeals to me these days.

This wine was provided as a sample for review.

—

Juicy, zingy nose of citrus crossed with pineapple. A fresh green herb note. Plump citrus fruit on the palate, including a sense of orange zest, yet with a mineral/metallic edge. Nicely crisp. Finishes long, if a little hot for a Sauvignon Blanc. Very enjoyable. A terrific bargain at $10. B+

The photo above is of the BBQ pit at Smitty’s in Lockhart, Texas, one of my absolute favorite BBQ joints. This fire sits practically in the middle of the hallway as you enter and the smell in this little room is heavenly. Put this place on your bucket list.

Image credit: jstorer via Flickr

————————

Tasting notes: Practically glowing red at the rim. Bright berries and plum on the nose, with a heavy aroma of wood smoke and ash, like in an old-school Texas BBQ joint. The wine is a bit simplistic on the palate, with spice-sprinkled red fruit. Medium-bodied, with dry tannins and a very satisfying sense of earth and stone on the finish.

Overall impression: At $10, this is VERY solid. B

————————

CORRECTION: The country of origin was originally mislabeled as Chile. It has been corrected to Argentina.

Santola Vinho Verde

Free association:

Image credit: Stéfan via Flickr

If you’re not familiar with vinho verde, you’ve got to rectify that. It’s a very light, low alcohol (<10%), slightly effervescent white white from Portugal. (Actually, it is an DOC appellation in Portugal and there are red and pink versions, but the vast majority of vinho verde that is exported is white.) It’s called vinho “verde” not because it’s actually green (like crappy American beer on March 17), but because it’s meant to be consumed young. The grapes typically used are Loureiro, Trajadura, Batoca, Arinto/Pedernã, Avesso and Azal. You can also find versions made from Alvarinho, but those are a bit of a different beast – higher alcohol levels and a few dollars more.

What vinho verde is mostly is refreshing. And goddammit I live in Texas and it’s hot. And sometimes I just want a wine that is thirst quenching and fun to drink.

But back to the headline. When I drink vinho verde, I forget about assessing it. I don’t care about flavor descriptor or scores. I just drink it. I usually keep the bottle on the table because I know I’m going to want a quick refill – and at <10% abv you can actually drink several glasses.

And if you pay more than $10 or $11, you did it wrong. You can find plenty of satisfying examples for $7 or $8, or even less.

This is what wine should be about.

—

This post was inspired by a recent dinner after I stood over the grill on a 95-degree evening on the second day of Summer. The bottle I opened was the Opala Vinho Verde (NV). In the spirit of this post, I won’t do a full VINEgeek review with grape percentages, vineyard details, etc. Instead, I’ll just hit you with a Free Association:

It’s a lifesaver when you need thirst-quenchin’
like a kiss with a lymon twist, now you know that’s kickin’

and to push deeper into the realm of geekery…

Lorca Monastrell 2008

Producer: Bodegas del Rosario

Grapes: 100% Monastrell (same grape as Mourvèdre, for newcomers). The 2006 had 30% Syrah.

Appellation: Bullas (D.O. Spain)

Vineyards: From youngish (10-20 years), dry-farmed vines at altitudes ranging from 550 to 1060 meters. The soil is clay, sand and limestone.

Winemaking: Stainless steel fermentation and 8 months in 2-year-old French and American oak

Alcohol: 13.5%

Price: $9 or $10 at Costco

My tasting notes: Sticking my nose in the glass, I get the sense of walking the aisles at a hardware store. I start in Aisle 1 with the paint thinner and other solvents. Aisle 2 is the loose nails and bolts. Aisle 3 for some lumber. Oh look, they’ve got cherry Tic Tacs at the checkout. On the palate it’s light with the same sort of dusty red fruit as the 2006 bottling, still without much pop. It disappears very quickly at the end. A very flat experience.

Overall impression: Once again, the Lorca is not fun to drink. Please don’t make this your first Monastrell if you’ve never had one. Try this one or this one or this one instead. C-

Free association:

Photo credit: D’Arcy Norman via Flickr

Producer: Bodegas del Rosaroio

Grapes: 70% Monastrell and 30% Syrah

Appellation: Bullas (D.O., Spain)

Vineyards: no detail on the website

Vintage: 2006

Winemaking: I don’t think this (the ‘Tinto’) sees any oak (they have ‘Barrica’ and ‘Crianza’ bottlings that get the oak)

Alcohol: 14%

Price: About $10 at Costco

My tasting notes: Not much fruit on the nose. Instead I get chalk dust and mineral aromas and a vegetal, whats-that-funky-smell-coming-from-behind-the-couch quality. Not promising. On the palate, it’s light-bodied and thin with the suggestion of dusty red fruit and a tight, dry, short finish. “Intense odor, complex sensations” is a tagline they use on the website. I think I agree, though not in the way they probably intended.

Overall impression: Not very fun to drink. I’m not too excited about opening the 2008 now. C-

Free association: Writing about this wine makes me feel pissy like Kristen Wiig’s Aunt Linda character from SNL…

Click here for video

More info:

Wine Spectator: 86 points

Other blogger reviews at Dallas Wine Blog and Wine Belly.

Fun fact from the Bodegas del Rosario website: “in Bullas (Murcia), in the mid 19th century, [Monastrell/Mourvèdre] was also known as Casca del País.”

Carro Tinto 2008

Producer: Bodega Señorio de Barahonda. They put out 10 or 12 different bottlings of Monastrell or Monastrell blends under the Barahonda, Carro and Bellum labels, including two previous Mourvèdre Monday wines: the Barahonda Monastrell 2006 (B-) and the Nabuko 2007 (B). Based on past results, I’ll taste as many of their wines as I can find.

Grapes: 50% Monastrell, 20% Syrah, 20% Tempranillo and 10% Merlot

Appellation: Yecla, (D.O., Spain)

Vineyards: From high-altitude vineyards (2339 feet) with rocky limestone soils.

Winemaking: no oak

Alcohol: 14%

Price: $9 or $10, usually

My tasting notes: Dusty blue and black fruit on the nose with significant earthiness, minerality and barnyard funk. On the palate, the funk goes on and on, with a strong meaty/animal aspect that brings to mind that episode of Man vs. Wild when Bear Grylls snacks on a dead Zebra (I mean that in the best possible way). There are some nice smoke and pepper/spice notes.  The fruit is there, too — blackberry & plum — but it’s not playing the starring role. The wine finishes very dry with a pronounced iron/mineral character that I’m enjoying.

Overall impression: Old World fans will find a lot to like here, while I suspect New World-ers may fear the funk. Give it a good bit of air for best results. I like what it brings to the table for $10. And, while only 50% Monastrell/Mourvèdre, it delivers a lot of that grape’s character, for my palate. B/B-

Update 6/08/2010: This review was written after one evening with the bottle. The next day, I finished the other half of the bottle and it was drinking beautifully on day two. So I’m bumping it to a full B.

Free Association:

More info:

88 points Parker (Jay Miller) and 87 points IWC.

Other blogger reviews: Bottle a Day, Wine Reviews You Can Understand and Wine-Smith

Producer: Bodegas Sierra Salinas

Grapes: Primarily Monastrell (the Spanish name for Mourvèdre), with Garnacha Tintorera (which is not Garnacha/Grenache, but the same as Alicante Bouchet), Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Appellation: Alicante (D.O., Spain)

Vineyards: 10-20 year old vines in limestone and clay soil at 600 meters

Vintage: 2006

Winemaking: 4 months in French oak (% new unknown)

Alcohol: 14%

Price: About $10

My tasting notes: The nose has a prominent dustiness coating the blueberry and chocolate notes. On the palate, it’s medium-bodied and starts off a bit rustic, but smoothes out. It features raspberry and blueberry flavors with a touch of minerality and a dry, dusty finish.

Overall impression: Dominique Roujou De Boubee, who is a consultant for Sierra Salinas and has commented here a few times, called this an “easy wine”. I agree. It is not a complex, “thinking” wine, but a pleasant and enjoyable bottle nonetheless. Worth checking out at this price. B-

Free association:

More info:

Big pub scores: 90 points from Parker and 88 points from Tanzer.

Lots of ratings at CellarTracker (avg: 87)

Imported by Eric Solomon.

A profile of the winery (including a review of this bottle) is at CataVino.