I hadn’t seen anything remotely like this particular blend on the shelves of my favorite San Antonio Wine Stores so I picked up a bottle when I saw it at Costco for $6.89. There was some signage on the Costco display with a few excerpts of positive press (I believe it was this 90 rating from Wine Enthusiast), but I didn’t realize until I started doing a little research for this review that the Big House White was in fact ranked number one on the Wine Enthusiast Magazine Top 100 Best Buys of 2009.

Dennis Schaefer from the Kansas City Wine Examiner has a nice article about the 2008 Big House White and summarized the wine this way –

…for newer wine drinkers, it has an enticing and very appealing initial sweetness, primarily a function of the Malvasia Bianca and Muscat Canelli in the blend; for wine drinking vets, it has a fresh flamboyancy of flavors that are layered with a textural component and a zippy finish.

After enjoying my bottle of Big House White over the course of two days paired with variety of seafood dishes, I’ve become a fan as well. In short, the Big House White is one of the best white wines under ten dollars I’ve tasted this year.

If you’re looking for an interesting white wine at a value price, the 2008 Big House White may be tough to beat.

Wine Name: 2008 Big House White
Three Nine Wine Rating ****½ (4.5/5)

(Note: If you want to learn more about what goes into crafting a wine like this, Snooth has an interview with The Big House Wine Company’s winemaker Georgetta Dane.)

Related links:

Wine Enthusiast Best Buys of 2009 (PDF)
Wine Searcher prices for 2008 Big House White
KL Wines summary of the 2008 Big House White

The Whimsical aisle of the HEB wine section.

If I were a wine maker, I’m not sure how I’d feel about seeing the fruits of my labor categorized as “Whimsical”. I do know that when shopping for wine, I tend to skip that aisle. I may have to rethink that usual route because though it is a non vintage wine, I thought the Barefoot Chardonnay offered an experience similar to that of some well made, moderately priced wines often seen on the shelves of a merchant’s Chardonnay or California section.

Now, if you’re searching for the kind of complexity that you might get from an old world Chardonnay-based white Burgundy then obviously this may not be the wine for you. Still, for the $6.99 I paid at HEB, I thought the Barefoot Cellars Chardonnay delivered plenty of value. (I also saw it for $4.97 at Walmart who btw carries another value priced California Chardonnay you may want to check out)

.

While trying to come up with a useful way to capture what this wine is all about, I ran across this quote on the The Wine Buyer from Barefoot Wine Maker Jennifer Wall:

“The wines are affordable, varietally correct, soft and approachable and are immediately ready to drink off the shelf.”

That sums up the Barefoot Cellars Chardonnay pretty well.

Wine Name: Barefoot Cellars Chardonnay California
Three Nine Wine Rating: ***½~ (3.5/5)

Related link: Cork’d Wine Reviews for Non Vintage Barefoot Cellars Chardonnay

Note: Not sure if this was a permanent price reduction or a temporary sale, but after writing this I saw the price for the Barefoot Cellars Chardonnay had been reduced at HEB.

Something different.

After one or two somewhat less than inspiring ideas, they suggested the 2007 Les Frères Couillaud Chateau de la Ragotiere Muscadet Sèvre Et Maine Sur Lie from the Loire Valley in France.

Bingo.

I was immediately interested in this wine for a couple reasons. First, I’d yet to try a Muscadet and had been wanting to get a bottle since reading about the great value it can deliver in this WSJ Tastings column. Second, it offered a chance to learn about the Sur Lie fermentation method.

From Wikipedia:

Sur lie literally translates from the French as ‘on lees’, lees being the yeasty residue remaining in the cask after fermentation. ‘Sur lie’ wines are bottled directly from the lees without racking (a process for filtering the wine)…The lees may be stirred (batonnage in French) in order to promote uptake of the lees flavor.

Upon seeing that explanation, I expected the wine to be cloudy like a Hefe Weizen beer. It wasn’t. Both the color and clarity were within the bounds of what I imagine most people would consider normal.

But the taste, that was where I thought this wine really separated itself from your normal twelve dollar bottle of white wine. For my palate it was, in a word, delicious.

Muscadet is often credited with being a smart choice to pair with seafood (oysters and shellfish in particular) and I am adding my voice to that chorus as well. I served this wine with a simple sauteed shrimp dish and it was a home run.

Kudos to Spec’s for the recommendation. I would definitely buy this wine again.

Wine Name: 2007 Les Frères Couillaud Chateau de la Ragotiere Muscadet Sèvre Et Maine Sur Lie
Three Nine Wine Rating: ****½ (4.5/5)

$2.97!?!….Walmart?!?….This is not going to be good for anyone…

Well…it turns out I actually enjoyed this wine.

Now it’s possible that my generally positive reaction was merely a result of some very low expectations going in, and this wine is really not as good as I think it is. Only better than I thought it was going to be.

Either way, for $2.97 it struck me as a wonderful bargain. And not only for drinking.

I was trying this wine while preparing a pan seared Tilapia for dinner and used it to liberally deglaze the pan to create the foundation for an awesome sauce.

Chef juice, indeed. (hat tip to Heather)

Over the holidays, I was fortunate to get the opportunity to sample a variety of higher priced Chardonnays and I can’t say that I found this wine to be better than those wines costing more than 10 times as much. I didn’t — though pleasant and easy to drink, the Oak Leaf Vineyards Chardonnay did come across as a pretty simple wine. Still, I’d be interested in seeing how it held up in a blind tasting.

It wouldn’t surprise me if it performed better than a lot of people could ever imagine.

Ultimately, for the price, I think it’s tough to beat the value this wine delivers. Not to mention the added bonus of mingling with the people of Walmart when you shop.

Wine: Oak Leaf Vineyards Chardonnay
Three Nine Wine rating: ***½~ (3.5/5)

But, unfortunately it didn’t work out that way as I found this Riesling to fall squarely in that “too sweet” camp where many Rieslings seem to live. And I say this as someone who’s been enjoying some value priced Rieslings lately. Somehow those wines have found a way to stay true to their Riesling heritage while overcoming their sugary stereotype, where this one — at least for my palate — does not.

Now it’s important to note here that this is NOT the Llano Estacado Late Harvest Riesling which I have yet to try, but rather a blend of juice from a variety sources.

And perhaps this description of the wine from their website may explain what happened with this offering:

A short supply of high quality Texas Riesling has restricted our production. In order to provide our customers with an ample supply of this popular variety, we have utilized premium grapes and juice from Texas, Washington, and California.

Maybe these particular Texas and California grapes mingle about as well as Spurs and Lakers fans?

Now to be absolutely fair, the longer this wine sat the better it got. And by the second day it was almost ok.

Almost.

Though I’ll keep rooting for Texas based wine makers like the Llano Estacado Winery to succeed, I don’t think I’ll be buying this one again.

Llano Estacado Vinters Selection Riesling

$8.99

Three Nine Wine Rating: **~~~ (2/5)