Fast Facts on this Week’s Featured Wines:
- 2018 Noble Vines 515 Rosé, Central Coast, California ($5.99 @Costco in California – Item #1179608)
- 2015 Revelation Cabernet-Merlot, Pays d’Oc, France ($5.99 @Trader Joe’s in California)
Sometimes the wines we review each week have little in common. But this week they do – the price! And both are a lot of wine for $5.99.
Granted, you don’t necessarily want to pull these wines out when you are dining on the fine China and trying to impress your friends, but for everyday quaffers they over-deliver for their price. And if you’re a long time reader of this blog, you know how much we love wines that have an exceptionally high Quality to Price Ratio, or QPR.
This week’s featured wine from Costco:
It’s not too soon to start scratching your itch for rosé. The days (or at least the hours of day light) are getting longer. The sun is getting warmer. Spring is just one month away, after all!
So I couldn’t help but notice the conspicuous display of this wine at my local Costco. Two things caught my eye:
- Its “street cred.” This wine made the Wine Enthusiast Best Buy list.
- The discount. Costco lopped $4.00 off its $9.99 price.
Curiosity, piqued!
This Provence-style rosé is made mostly from red varieties (namely Grenache and Syrah) in which the natural pigments of the (red) skins impart color and structure. The winery states that “the grapes were farmed specifically for rosé, and harvested early to preserve bright acidity and complex flavors…the grapes were gently pressed and the juice was cold settled before being racked into stainless steel fermenters. We chose yeast strains specifically selected to enhance the fruit character in rosé, and fermented at cool temperatures to preserve the lively aromas and flavors.”
About those aromas and flavors:
Tasting Notes:
The wine is dry, but not as dry as a classic rosé from Provence, France. It has a nice bright bouquet of raspberry, watermelon and Meyer lemon. As shown in the photo above, it has a lovely salmon color and (not shown, hehe) flavors of citrus, strawberry and cherry, culminating in a fresh creamy finish. It has a nice concentration of fruit flavors balanced by a firm acidity.
The winery explains the wine’s name this way:
“515 Rosé celebrates the enchanted time of 5:15 pm, so named by our winemakers for the time they occasionally pause from their work to enjoy a taste of this bright, delightful rosé.”
I’m thinking that someone at the winery is a fan of the Who, and their 1973 masterpiece Quadrophenia, which features the song 5:15. But I could be wrong about that…
This week’s featured wine from Trader Joe’s:
Perhaps you recognize the Revelation name. That could be because we reviewed their Chardonnay just a few months ago. What’s more, the same producer (Badet, Clement & Co.) crafts the Pontificis wines – we really liked both their white VRM and red GSM blends.
Seems the minds behind Badet, Clement have mastered the art of striking a balance between old world wine styles and the more fruit-driven wines associated with new world winemaking. What’s more, they do so at incredibly low prices. Trader Joe’s seems to have taken notice. Lucky us!
Tasting Notes:
Once poured, the wine exhibits a lovely deep red brick color (I attribute that to its age) with nice aromas of dark chocolate-covered cherries, anise and blackberries. Rich and elegant with round tannins, it is dry, but not overly so, with nice flavors of baking spices and dark red fruits. It is medium-bodied, and not overly complex. This is a versatile wine that would pair well with a wide range of foods and cheeses.
It was good right after pulling the cork, but I liked it even better day two.
About that new feature we promised…
Our Throwback Thursday wine:
This is a new feature designed to bring your attention back to a previously reviewed wine that you may have missed or forgotten, but that still (seems to be) widely available based upon what is on the shelves of the Costco and Trader Joe’s stores we frequent.
This one is from Trader Joe’s and I recently uncorked a bottle that had been sitting in my wine cellar since it was first reviewed. I was reminded what a good bottle – and great price – it is.
Try one, two or three of the wines featured in this week’s dispatch and let us know what you think by dropping us a note here in the comments section or on our Facebook page. And for those of you that send us your personal wine tips – thanks, and keep them coming.
Cheers!
My TJ’s has the 2018 vintage of Revelation on its shelves, so I’m surprised if 2015 is still available elsewhere. Also, the price went up a bit due to tariffs. Puerta de Plata likely had a price increase as well.
Thanks for the input. I think we are probably seeing the last of the 2015s. Will check the price on the PdP next time I am at TJs.
As of today, my TJs is stocking the Revelation 2018 as well, now $6.99. But the Puerta de Plata is still $7.99. Thanks for your note, Don.