The charge to find the best cheap wine surges forward since moving to Ann Arbor

We hadn’t been to Trader Joe’s in quite a while. It is not our favorite store to do our “big shopping” but it is a gold mine of unique items not found elsewhere and best of all is the wine department. Even the brand name stuff is the lowest in town, but the house brand stuff is crazy cheap. So, today after mining Kroger for all the food bargains, we stopped at the store where I did my grocery shopping when I was a UM student. It was a Wrigley back then which morphed into a Whole Foods and now Trader Joe’s. So, I’m re-starting my Brian’s Cryin’s with discoveries post Ann Arbor move. These selections will be my local finds, but most of them will be from stores which are all over the state if not all over the country. I’ve found that, like its parent company Aldi, Trader Joe is very Eurocentric. However, Trader Joe’s seems to sell a lot more wine and fine foods than Aldi and as such has a much faster turnover on fine wine and specialty food allowing for a larger more frequently changing field of product to explore while in its prime. In fact, we really don’t shop Trader Joe’s often enough to try all the new stuff before it gets changed over again whereas, Aldi has become a bit of same old same old. The photo above is today’s bounty; one Portuguese wine, four Spanish and four Italian. After my experience with the PORTO 6 (NOT Porto as in fortified wine, a table wine) I stopped back at the store to buy another PORTO 6 as well as three more from Spain and Southern Italy. By the way, we didn’t even touch mid to northern Italy yet. That will have to wait until our next trip. So, if you read this post today, you’ll only see the Iberian and Southern Italian wines, but, like Brian’s Cryin’s I, it will be a continuous add.

2020 PORTO 6 Lisboa SDG Red Blend PORTUGAL (13.5% abv) $5.99 at Trader Joe’s was the first one of these we opened. The second I put my nose in the glass, the thought “this is what wine should be” came to mind. Quite frankly, I would not hesitate to say that I like this wine as well as any at any price. Yes, I do prefer it to Ridge Montebello, if you’re wondering. This is European wine offered at precisely the moment it shines like a super nova. The nose starts out loaded with jammy ripe red fruit and almost instantly when it enters the mouth a bright eruption of dusty incense-like spice, violets, elderflower liqueur and exotic bitter berries hit the palate. The clean finish asks for nothing more than another sip to verify that it is really that good. This may not be a wine for the ages, but right now at this moment, I cannot imagine a better glass of wine. GOLD MEDAL!!

Incidentally, the next day, good as this wine is/was the magic is gone! That very fleeting ethereal wisp of exotic spice flew away. I did stop by Trader Joe’s and bought another bottle which I tried on 1/28/2022 and, opened fresh it does indeed have that refreshing waft of vibrant nervous energy in the nose that I had witnessed in the previous bottle on day one. Delicious day two, but there is something very very special about this wine when freshly opened. Update: We opened the 2021 yesterday and though thoroghly enjoyable for a $6 bottle of wine, it had none of the “dessert island” wine charm which the 2020 exhibited upon opening. Right from the git, it was about the same as the 2020 after being open a day. So, here’s the next in what has now become a twelve bottle series: 2020 OXTE The Silence Carinena Red Blend (Tempranillo, Syrah, Grenache, Cab Sauv) (abv 14%) SPAIN $5.99 at Trader Joe’s. This wine actually opened up more as it sat. Initially, it was very good but a half day later, it really shows an amplified bright black currant / elderberry-like nose and rich tongue coating sweet berry jam. It stays for several seconds finishing with just enough acid to pique the senses longing for another sip. Day one, if the Porto 6 is a mid nineties score, then this, freshly opened would be a high eighties point score. However, the second day, the OXTE crosses the ninety point threshold while the Porto 6 falls from it. Stay tuned for an update on the second bottle of PORTO 6 that I’ve yet to open. Either way, for different reasons these are both GOLD MEDAL selections in my book. UPDATE: We just popped the 2021 Oxte and drank it over about three days. Day 1,2 and 3 it held up beautifully. Another GOLD though if my memory is any good, I think I preferred the 2020 but Alice says the 2021 was every bit as good. UPDATE: The 2022 is on the shelf now and a worthy follow up to 2021 and 2020 though maybe not quite as hefty but still embodies the fine fruit and satisfying texture and still $5.99!

When I initially opened a bottle of 2018 SATIS DEI Vino de la Tierra de Castilla Syrah/Garnacha (14.5% abv) SPAIN $8.99 at Trader Joe’s it almost smelled corked. I consulted the in-house expert, Alice, and she stated that it is not corked. So I drank a glass, and found it was quite nice. After putting a different cork in it with about 5 oz. of headspace and allowing it to sit overnight, it was much better; not a trace of corkiness. It has a pleasant red fruit nose good mouth feel with berry-like flavor throughout. What caught our eye in the store was the splashy art work on the label and the super thick cut glass appearance of the very heavy bottle. My guess is the cost of the bottle and the art work accounts for the $8.99 price tag. Nice wine, but not in the same league as the PORTO6 or the OXTE (above). I’d give it maybe SILVER, no more.

Here we go with wine number four. A bottle of eight year old Gran Reserva for $6.99 was obviously too tempting to pass up. So, we pulled the cork on 2013 VEGA DEL ORIGON Gran Reserva Garnacha / Syrah Terra Alta DO (14.5% abv) SPAIN $6.99 at Trader Joe’s. Of course with the Gran Reserva designation I’m hoping for something resembling a $70 Cune Imperial or a Marques de Murietta, but, for a tenth of the price, what is wrong with my mind? So, considering expectations, how could I possibly fall in love with this wine. It is a very plump almost thick dark red with slow drippy legs and a big hot climate ripe one dimensional black fruit thrust in the nose and a fat bitter-sweet finish that lasts several seconds. Though clearly not in the same class as the PORTO 6 or the OXTE, it is nonetheless one hell of a table wine for $7. If comparing it to $70 Gran Reservas*, it wouldn’t be worthy of a medal, but for $7, I’m going SILVER.

Next up a pair of Tempranillo varietals; one from La Mancha and one from Rioja. 2018 PATON-CLEMENTE Tempranillo Crianza La Mancha DO (13% abv) $4.99 at Trader Joe’s offers a sweet ripe aroma a little like a young ruby Porto with just a subtle whiff of earth. The palate is a simple one dimensional quaff though pleasantly fruity and balanced. In absolute quality and complexity, this would barley make BRONZE but at $4.99 how can one complain? 2018 JAVIER SAN PEDRO Randez Tempranillo Rioja DOC (13.8% abv) $8.99 at Trader Joe’s is clearly in a different class. This is what I would call a modern Rioja. A fine floral aroma melds both the cherry and the blossom while finely honed tannin texture spells class. This is fine wine and thoroughly enjoyable but, I have to say, for a buck less I prefer the Kirkland Rioja Reserva sold at Costco. SILVER

Next up are the four wines from Southern Italy (heel of the boot, and Sicily) from a few different producers. First, we opened the 2018 GRIFFONE (bottled by Roccadoro) Sangiovese Puglia IGT Sangiovese (12.5% abv) ITALY $4.99 at Trader Joe’s. Sangiovese seemed like an odd grape to find in Puglia. Most Sangiovese that I’ve ever encountered has come from Tuscany, which is much cooler and higher altitude by and large than the Puglia region which resembles the windblown sandy area just north of Ludington heading up toward Hamlin Lake though much much warmer. In spite of that, this is a very decent wine showing the characteristic rustic rough earthy strawberry-like fruit in the nose and a slightly bitter mid palate with pleasant tannin on the finish. For the money, no complaints, but those who think Tuscany when they think Sangiovese will be disappointed. I’d give it a solid BRONZE considering the value. Following the Sangiovese, we popped open 2020 EPICURIO (bottled by Femar Vini Sri-Monte Porzio Catone) Aglianico Puglia IGP (13% abv) ITALY $5.99 at Trader Joe’s. Aglianico is one of my favorite Italian varietals most notably from the Basilicata region which is adjacent to Puglia. This is a really nice lush sweet smelling wine with plump black fruit texture and a very soft easy finish. I’m not sure it is very typical of Aglianico, but, nonetheless an enjoyable quaff. Like the previous wine, if you thought you were getting something resembling Aglianico della Vulture, you’ll be very disappointed. But, as an easy drinking wine for simple meals, it is solid BRONZE in my book.

Continuing on with the Southern Italian varietals, we opened another pair. 2020 EPICURIO (bottled by Femar Vini Sri-Monte Porzio Catone) Nero d’Avola Sicily DOP (12.5% abv) ITALY $5.99 at Trader Joe’s like the other varietals, doesn’t express a lot of terroir but does have plenty of black cherry fruit up front and a pleasantly bitter cherry pit presence in the mouth. It resembles a ripe warmer climate version of California Pinot. I like it, but BRONZE is all I can award. 2020 EPICURIO (bottled by Femar Vini Sri-Monte Porzio Catone) Primitivo (Zinfandel) Puglia IGP (14% abv) ITALY $5.99 at Trader Joe’s is clearly the best of the bunch. Besides a very ripe lightly spiced scent of pie cherries, the instant it hits the palate a huge prune-like dense mouth coating texture emerges and lasts for several seconds. This isn’t exactly Salice Salentino, but at $5.99 it’s close enough to garner SILVER.

We conclude this chapter in Brian’s Cryin’s with our final pair. It is fitting that quite by accident, they have turned out to be, by far, the biggest of the dozen. Maybe not as classy as many of the others, but for this kind of money, big is big and very welcome. First off we tasted a bottle of 2020 VINEDOS MARCHIGUE Panilonco “Chief of Lions” Carmenere Reserva DO Colchagua Valley (13.5% abv) CHILE $4.99 at Trader Joe’s which is the only wine in this dozen that is not from Southern Europe. This is prototypical Carmenere. Quite frankly, I’m not sure that I’ve ever had a more distinct expression of the varietal. True to form, the nose is powerful with the initial strength of flinty gun metal bursting simultaneously into a big green bitter herb bite as it reaches the palate and a fat ripe black wild fruit avalanche not unlike certain cold hearty midwestern early hybrids. The finish is very dry but not heavy or cloying lingering with an impressive palate memory. There is plenty going on here, albeit rough and rustic to keep me amused for the immediate future and it might even be considered among my “desert island” selections. SOLID GOLD! Well, if the Carmenere wasn’t the whopper of the whoppers then the 2020 NERO GRANDE (bottled by Femar Vini Sri-Monte Porzio Catone) Appassimento Red Blend Puglia IGP (14.5% abv) ITALY $6.99 at Trader Joe’s certainly is. Appassimento or appassite is wine made from semi-dried grapes; not exactly raisins but shrunk considerably. This is the process used up north in Veneto to make Valipolicella Amarone, so you could call this Southern Italian version a poor man’s Amarone. But, really, each region that makes wines like this has its own identity, merits and followers. It surprised me that Alice really enjoyed this one too because often pedigree trumps power in her estimation. However, this wine does have pedigree if you let it linger in your glass and allow the nose to waft up contemplating it well before taking a sip. Besides the very obvious super ripe black and red plum fragrance, a very focused piercing orange Curacao nerve runs through it that carrying on to the tongue coating tannin and volatile liqueur-like finish. This is a very impressive wine, a GOLD MEDAL for sure; I’m at a bit of a loss as to what would be the meal you’d accompany with it. I tend to feel that most complex flavors in roast meats might just be palate overload but I think a simple pasta dish or a naked piece of rare beef might be just the ticket. UPDATE: We just opened another bottle today (11/29/2022) and this wine is even better than it was some 10 months ago. If has everything it did then plus now it can actually be described as having finesse and complexity not just fat ripe fruit. We enjoyed it with pizza, but I believe it is elegant enough now to serve with your favorite Italian cuisine. ANOTHER UPDATE: On 10/8/2023, I finished a bottle of the 2021 vintage and, if anything, it is even sweeter, riper and more emphatically aromatic than the 2020. Great value vintage after vintage! YET ANOTHER UPDATE: On 11/7/23 we had another bottle of 2020 (TJ must not be rotating inventory) and it really blew my mind at the extent to which it had become much classier and having even more depth. The nose on the 2020 now has a very spicy wood essence that reminds me of wines from Napa and Coonawarra. Hard to imagine a better buy!

I will, of course, continue to seek the best buys and relate my impressions. So, stay tuned for Brian’s Cryin’s III.

Enjoy in Good Health,

Brian Cain, the Michigan Vintner

*Most Gran Reserva wines show that unmistakable essence of old wood, old wine and strong earth flavor superimposed on great depth of fruit complexity. In Spain, the term Gran Reserva indicates that the wine was harvested in a top vintage and that it is aged for a minimum number of years in oak, tank or bottle. This meets the requirement legally based on the vintage, but clearly Terra Alta is not a region where the wines are traditionally aged in a combination of small new and large oak barrels for decades. So, the designation is a bit misleading based on the traditions most wine drinkers associate with Rioja and Penedes for example.