We realized that it’s been a while since we had some local Chardonnay on the show, so we decided to check in on a couple of cheaper bottles. We picked up the 2010 Apolloni Estate Chardonnay and the 2010 Lange Willamette Valley Chardonnay. Both are pretty crisp and enjoyable.

What magazines have you been reading lately?

CNBC published an interview with the wine buyer for Costco where it was implied that wine was a commodity like tinfoil or toilet paper. We disagree profoundly with this idea, but we do recognize that this mentality drives a huge portion of the wine sales in the United States. We were curious about what wine selected specifically to deliver on this philosophy would taste like, and we wanted to share our thoughts here. We taste the 2008 Kirkland Signature Series Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2009 Kirkland Napa Cabernet Sauvignon, and the 2010 Kirkland Chateauneuf du Papes Cuvee de Nalys. Not surprisingly, they taste like bulk wine. We’re grateful to be living in a region where we have lots of small producers making interesting wine, and we encourage you to look beyond bulk wine whenever you have the chance!

When did you first realize it was worth the effort to look for more interesting wine?

Dan has regularly made jokes about Bordeaux being too expensive and too rough to reliably enjoy, so when the folks at Balzac Communications and Planet Bordeaux offered to send us some samples, Chas so this as a perfect opportunity to make a point. We picked our three favorites for a show, and we both agreed that these three deliver good value and buck the trend of Bordeaux as expensive, heavy, and overly tannic. We’re also happy to be able to share some sub $20 recommendations with you. In this show, we taste the 2006 Chateau Marechaux Bordeaux Superieur, the 2004 Chateau Lescalle Bordeaux Superieur, and the 2007 Chateau Au Grand Paris Bordeaux Superieur.

 

What wine regions are you biased against, and why?

Our friend Liz directed us to some of the cheapest wine in town at Grocery Outlet. In addition to their normal clearance level prices they were offering an additional 20% off on all wine for a special sale! We were able to put together a Pinot Noir show for under $15. Since we had 3 bottles from 3 different regions we tried to do them blind to see if we could figure out where they came from. All we did was make ourselves look silly but it was still a fun show. We tasted the 2009 Floodplain Arroyo Grande Valley Pinot Noir the 2008 Sacred Hill Central Otago Pinot Noir and the 2007 Poverty Road Willamette Valley Pinot Noir.

What price point would you like to see us focus on?

It’s always nice when we can put together a show of wines were interested in tasting that also come in a very reasonable price points.  Oregon Pinot Noir under $20 can be a real challenge, so its fun to find good bottles in this range.  We taste the 2009 Grochau Cellars Commuter Cuvee Pinot Noir, the 2009 Red Door Cellars Pinot Noir, and the 2009 Bruno Willamette Valley Pinot Noir.

Find out more or contribute to the Brett Jarolimek Memorial Fund

 

What is your favorite internet radio station, and why do you like it?

 

Months ago, our friend Grant picked a bunch of grapes from the back yard of his parents’ house,. They had always been delicious, so he decided to try to make wine out of them, and asked us to assist. None of us had ever done it before, and our expectations for the final result were very low. There were some surprises, some mistakes, some fortunate developments, and it all turned into drinkable wine in the end. In this episode, all we taste is some 09 jug wine, probably from Interlaken grapes, but I actually would be intrigued to try it blind against sub $15 bottles from Alsace.

 

Where is Lance going to finish in this year’s Tour de France?

We return to the bottom shelf to try another American classic. Dan had never tasted it before, but Chas had some fond memories. Both of us are amazed at how sweet these wines are. Two of them had corn syrup added!

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What is the worst wine you’ve ever had?

My room mate Shane turned me on to the fact that 7-11 picked up an exclusive wine label. How could we resist?

 

What is your favorite cheap drink? Wine or non wine.

For Episode 9, we decided to step up, and actually try the wines that everyone loves to make fun of. We’ve heard horrible references to them, but never actually tasted either. So, here it is. The Thunderbird and Night Train Episode.

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Please comment and let us know:What is YOUR favorite ultra cheap bottle?