Fred Tasker’s Wine Notes – Party Wine on a Tight Budget
I swear I’m no wine snob, but one of my pet peeves is to go to a party or an art show opening where they’re serving wine and cheese and see them pouring wine out of gallon jugs with ears on them.
I mean, have you ever had wine from a gallon jug that was even adequate?
Life is too short.
You’re telling your guest you care little enough to give the very least.
Even box wines are getting a better reputation than gallon jugs.
On the other hand, there are some very nice, quite inexpensive wines being sold these days in magnums – bottles that are twice the size of regular wine bottles, holding 1.7 liters of wine instead of 750 mililiters.
These cost about $7 to $15, and they’re how you can save entertainment money without shortchanging your guests. They come from all over — chardonnays from
I did a wine column on these a couple of months ago, and I found some good ones:
* 2006 Beringer Founders Estate Chardonnay,
* 20007 Yellow Tail
* 2007 Frontera Merlot by Concha
* 2007 Woodbridge Chardonnay by Robert Mondavi,
* 2007 Woodbridge Sauvignon Blanc by Robert Mondavi,
*
* 2007 Vendange
* 2007 Woodbridge Zinfandel,
* 2005 Vendange Cabernet Sauvignon,
* 2005 Lindemans Shiraz/Cabernet Sauvignon,
* 2005 Turning Leaf Cabernet Sauvignon,
* 2005 Fetzer Vineyards Valley Oaks Cabernet Sauvignon,
* 2007 Bolla Pinot Grigio delle
* Nonvintage Rene Junot Dry White Table Wine (50 percent chenin blanc, 30 percent sauvignon blanc, 20 percent chardonnay),
* 2007 Woodbridge Chardonnay by Robert Mondavi,