These services launched several years ago as a way to keep the party going when you ran out of chardonnay. They’ve now expanded nationwide, boosted by demand during the pandemic.
Italy shines again with an inexpensive bubbly that can help brighten the quarantine, plus a vibrant white wine to drink with all sorts of seafood.
Here’s a chance to taste history in an unusual red wine from southwestern Spain, as well as the future in a pinot noir from a cutting-edge, high-altitude winery in Patagonia.
Many high-end wineries sell primarily to restaurants, and that market dried up with the novel coronavirus pandemic. They need to create cash flow and free up space in their cellars to process the next vintage. Unloading some wine at a deep discount makes sense.
This week’s wines include three rosés and two reds to pair with your last grilled meals of summer.
A truly food-friendly wine plays nicely with a wide variety of foods, from sweet to savory to spicy, from meat to fish to veggies—not a unicorn wine for a “perfect pairing” with a specific dish.
This week we have three superb reds. Two are terrific bargains—an Argentine bonarda that led my list of greatest values in 2018 and a sleeper carignan from the Mediterranean coast of France. The third is a textbook cabernet franc from France’s Loire Valley. For white wine lovers, we explore the sweetness spectrum with an off-dry, flowery blend based on gewurztraminer and an inexpensive moscato from Sicily that conjures summer brunches on the patio.
This week’s selections include a spritzy rosé of vinho verde from a Portuguese label that has consistently proven its value. And, if wine seems heavy in the heat, we also have a low-alcohol line from California.
The bag-in-the-box keeps the wine fresh for several days and even weeks in the refrigerator, always available for a glass while cooking dinner, a splash for deglazing a pan, or a final sip while cleaning up.
Fans of natural wine will want to check out this week’s top recommendation: a delicious red blend from southern France from a producer who is pushing against the traditional appellation boundaries.
This week’s selection of five delicious, affordable wines starts with three from Italy—an absolutely outstanding Montepulciano d’Abruzzo; a simple, tasty rosso for pasta night; and a delightful, slightly bitter rosato. We round out the list with two classic values from France.
The key is to look for pinot grigio from northern Italy, where altitude helps preserve the grapes’ acidity and freshness.
We have three stellar rosés from California’s Paso Robles, New York’s Finger Lakes and Oregon plus two rich, juicy reds to match with your burgers or ribs from the grill.
