Several years ago friends visiting us at our Arizona home brought Mrs. Wine Guy and I a bottle of Vino del Barrio from Page Springs Cellars as a gift. The wine was bottled in Arizona and made from grapes made in Arizona.  Prior to this I did not know that you could grow grapes in Arizona let alone make wine.  I had never tasted an Arizona wine, was not looking forward to it, and was more than a bit surprised when the Vino del Barrio did not suck.    That experience motivated us to make several wine tasting trips to Arizona wineries to dig a bit deeper. At first there were very few wines that we would classify as outstanding (a Barbara produced by Javelina Leap Winery comes to mind), several were drinkable, and several more that had some serious flaws and had a way to go to catch up to wines from the more established wine regions.   After each subsequent trip we found more wines outstanding and drinkable wines but still found several that were still ...

I have read a lot of books to help me learn more about wine.  Three (two old friends and a recent acquaintance) that I have found most useful are as follows: The two old friends are: Drink This - Wine Made Simple by Dara Moskowitz Grundahl (Click on the title to go to it's Amazon page).   Published in 2009 it highlights useful information about the most popular types of wine and wine regions in easy to understand language. It's 12 chapters cover the nuts and bolts of drinking, buying, and tasting wine, 9 chapters on each of the most popular varietals (the type of wine), a chapter on the relationship of the cost of wine and how much you will like it, and a chapter on how to order wine in a restaurant.  Each of the chapters on the type of wine will also give you some hints on how to identify the wine you are drinking, and how to host a wine tasting for that type of wine.  An easy enjoyable read that dispenses lots of useful information with a lot of wit and person...

Mr. Dave Orth of Washington D.C. writes, “Hey Wine Guy you did such an incredible job of letting us know that screw top wines can be good I was wondering if the same thing was true for Box Wines?” Thanks Dave that is a very insightful question and I feel blessed to have received it, as any insight coming from Washington D.C. is indeed rare. Before I answer your question let me tell you about the box.  The main advantage of wine in a box is that it has a membrane inside the box that holds the wine.  As you drink the wine the membrane shrinks around the wine minimizing the contact that air has with the wine.  Air causes wine to go bad so the less air that touches the wine the longer it will last.  A refrigerated, half empty bottle of wine sealed with a wine stopper will last 2-3 days before going bad. A half empty box of wine will last two or three weeks.   The tap attached to the box makes if very convenient to use. Box wine is more convenient the b...

I was looking at an inexpensive red wine last week and tried a bottle of $9.95 Montepulcano d’Aburzzo to have with some pizza.  It was outstanding.  Despite its deep red color it was smooth, flavorful, and not the least bit tannic.  Went perfect with the Pizza.   A couple of days later Mrs. Wine Guy and I were out to dinner at an Italian restaurant with fairly high wine prices but I was able to find a $29 bottle of Montepulcano  d’Aburzzo ($29 at a restaurant equates to $8 to $12 retail).  Again it was very drinkable and went very nicely with all of our meals and we all enjoyed it.  Aburzzo is a less well known area of Italy just north of Rome.  Usually when a wine is imported to the United States from a less well known area of Europe it is because that wine drinks better than it's price point.  Because of this buying wines from less well known areas is a good way to find great value wines.  Like other European wines ...

Mr. Mike Ryan of Gulf Breeze Florida asks “Do any good wines have a screw-top or are they only used for “cheap” wines?” Well Mike while it is true that many “cheap” wines use screw tops there are many really good “value” wines that also utilize a screw-top. Cork has traditionally been used to seal a bottle of wine because it was one of the few natural products pliable enough to keep the wine in while keeping the air out.  As the price of cork has gone up and up many winemakers looked for alternatives to cork to help keep the price of their wine reasonable.  Screw-tops are one of those alternatives.  Other alternatives are corks made of synthetic material, compressed pieces of cork, or a combination of real cork and synthetic material.   Cork has gotten so expensive odds are if you purchase a wine less than $30 you are buying a wine with one of the cork alternatives and not a wine utilizing a 100% natural cork. In many ways a screw-top is pr...

Costco believe it or not is one of the biggest wine retailers in the world.  Because of that they are able to leverage their size to get great great wines at great prices.  They have a rotating selection of wines, and depending on the drinking habits of the surrounding area the sell different wines at different locations. At my Costco they carry two wines that I consider to be great values that they always seem to have in stock.   One is Chateau D' Aqueria Tavel Rose.  Tavel is an application in the southern Rhone region of France that only produces dry Rose.  It is one of the most full bodied rose wines you will ever experience.  I love to drink it by itself but I also pair it with Salmon.  $12.99 is an outstanding price for a wine this good. My other favorite Costco wine is Villa Antinori Toscana red table wine.   This highly rated wine is a Super Tuscan (a wine produced in Tuscany with at least some grapes not being Sangiovese)...

Went to a wine tasting of League of Rogues wines last night and came away very impressed.  This Paso Robles winery has a Rose, a  Rhone Red Blend, and a Rhone white blend that retail for around $12,50 and a Zinfandel that retails for around $18.00.  All four are approachable, drinkable, and give you what you expect without being overpowering.  Amazingly well done given the fact that the wine is produced and marketed by a young couple, Jake Gottlieb and Jessica Leitch that graduated from Arizona State business school four years ago and got into the business 3 years ago.  They now produce about 1200 cases per year. They do not have a tasting room and are currently available at restaurants and small wine shops (for those of you in Arizona it is available at Phoenix Wine  http://www.phoenixwine.com/  ) throughout Arizona and California and through their website and wine club. You can also get more information and order wine by going to the League of R...