2006 Bodegas Luzon Jumilla

Another of the great values I've found from Spain is from the region of Jumilla, the Monastrell (Mourvedre)-Syrah blend made by Bodegas Luzon. The 2004 Luzon is certainly made in a very forward style, offering plenty of fruit on the nose and the palate straightaway. There's not a lot of complexity here, but for less than $10, this wine delivers plenty of pleasure if you like this style of wine. I'll admit that I'm not always in the mood for such a wine, but when I am, I definitely enjoy a wine like this especially for the price. If you're looking for a fresh young wine that will deliver plenty of fruit upfront for a low price, this is a great choice.

2004 Stefano Accordini Valpolicella

As I've noted previously, one of our favorite stops at Vinitaly was in the Veneto area where we met some great people such as Tiziano Accordini. The Accordini family's wines can be found in some places in the US, but not everywhere. I was able to pick up a bottle of the 2004 Stefano Accordini Valpolicella in Jacksonville a few months ago and finally cracked it open recently.

This wine was a little slow to open up, but once it did there was plenty to like. The wine certainly wasn't the big gun that their Amarones are, but it was a solid Valpolicella. I wish this wine was available here, as it would certainly make it into my rotation of everyday drinkers - at about $14, it is certainly well-priced. It's a great wine to drink with pastas, pizza, or most anything that doesn't require a robust full-bodied wine.

2004 Mazzei Badiola IGT Toscana

Mazzei makes a wide range of wines in Tuscany, from everyday drinkers like this, up to top Supertuscans. 2004 was a fantastic vintage in Tuscany, so when I saw this wine on the shelf I figured I would pick some up. As has been the case with most every 2004 I have tried from the region, I was not disappointed.

The 2004 Badiola IGT isn't a wine that will win any awards or get super-high scores, but it is a wonderful red wine to have with dinner any night of the week. A blend of 75% Sangiovese and 25% Merlot, it offers good fruit with just enough complexity to stand up to food and complement it. With pasta or pizza, this is wine you want to have, especially for the $12 price.

2006 Domaine de la Mordoree Lirac La Dame Rousse

Now known as one of the top producers of Chateauneuf du Pape, Domaine de la Mordoree is in my opinion the top producer of Lirac, the appellation just across the Rhone from Chateauneuf. Mordoree's Cuvee Reine des Bois Lirac has become such a high achiever that it now sells for a price similar to many Chateauneufs, but the winery also makes a lower-end Lirac as well.

The 2006 Domaine de la Mordoree Lirac is absolutely wonderful. It is silky and seductive right from the start, with plenty of dark fruit flavors that don't overwhelm you, but just make you want to savor it. The wine is a 50-50 blend of Grenache and Syrah with each complementing the other perfectly. I'm not sure how this cuvee will age, but it is wonderful now. It was priced around $18, about half of what most places now sell the Reine des Bois for. I've had other vintages of both cuvees and know that the Reine des Bois is a step up, so I look forward to tasting the 2006 vintage of that as well (I have some already, now in the cellar along with the 2000, 2003, 2004, and 2005 vintages). Once again, Domaine de la Mordoree is a winery I recommend to anyone, for anything from their Cotes du Rhone all the way to their Chateauneufs, but especially for Lirac, where they are really the best in my book.

1998 Giacomo Conterno Langhe Vigna Mesdi Nebbiolo

Giacomo Conterno is one of the great producers in Italy's Piemonte region, with their top Barolos among the finest examples of Nebbiolo anywhere (with prices to match). Thankfully, Conterno has also produced some fine lower-end wines as well, and this is one I've been holding onto for a few years. The late Giovanni Conterno was still making the wines at his family's estate in 1998, so though it was a vintage overshadowed by some of the vintages just before and after, I was still confident in what it could have. I had actually tasted this when I first purchased some, and felt it had some aging potential.

I was quite pleased to find that the 1998 Conterno Langhe Nebbiolo had aged very well. Over two nights, it opened up quite well and did not really fade out. It showed some of the typical traits one would find in a Barolo with a brick color and elegance that certainly had come about with age. For the $20 I paid for this wine about 4-5 years ago, it was definitely worth saving a bottle and seeing what a master craftsman like Giovanni Conterno could do. Unfortunately, I don't have any of his Barolos, but I do have a few 1998s from other top producers that I feel confident still have a few years before they will really be ready to show all they have. For those who don't want to spend big money on Barolo or Barbaresco, I highly recommend searching out the lower-priced Langhe Nebbiolos of some of the top producers from the region, as they can deliver fine examples of this grape at a reasonable price, even with some age.

2006 Domaine La Garrigue Cotes du Rhone Cuvee Romaine

One of the top Cotes du Rhones in most vintages according to Robert Parker is the custom cuvee produced by Domaine La Garrigue for American importer Eric Solomon. This winery also makes a fabulous Vacqueyras, but unfortunately I seem to have difficulty finding that wine as easily as the Cotes du Rhone.

Thankfully, the 2006 La Garrigue Cotes du Rhone is very good, so I'm not too disappointed. This wine is 65% Grenache, 25% Mourvedre, and 10% Syrah, made mainly from declassified Vacqueyras grapes. However, it is still a very earthy, powerful wine that is a great example of what wines of the southern Rhone are all about. Even better, this wine is about $12, so it's easy on the wallet. It's definitely one of my favorites from the region.

2006 Luciano Sandrone Dolcetto d'Alba

Sandrone is considered one of the finest producers in the Piedmont region for his Barolos, but he also does an incredible job with his lower-end wines. I was told the 2006 Dolcetto would be an eye-opener and it certainly was. I have had many Dolcettos over the years (and tasted several fine examples at Vinitaly) but typically have preferred Barbera's to Dolcettos when searching out values from the region. This wine changed all that.

The 2006 Sandrone Dolcetto d'Alba is phenomenal. I can't describe it any other way. For the price, it is a fantastic value, and it will wow anyone looking for a great example of what this region can produce. The wine was in complete balance, offering plenty of fruit, but also just enough tannin to balance it out and give it the complexity one would expect in a fine Nebbiolo, not a Dolcetto. The wine was about $18, and certainly to me was as good as many wines at 2-3 times the price. Anyone wanting a true gem from Italy even with a weak dollar should search this wine out. It's one of the top QPR (Quality-Price Ratio) wines I've had in quite some time, and certainly intend to buy and drink more.

2005 Domaine Charvin Cotes du Rhone Le Poutet

One of my favorite wineries in the Rhone has become Domaine Charvin, who produces just a single cuvee of Chateauneuf du Pape every year as well as a fantastic Cotes du Rhone. The 2005 Cotes du Rhone Le Poutet is another gem. I don't know the blend, but like the Chateauneuf it seems to be dominated by Grenache, exhibiting a lot of the cherry flavors typical in the Grenaches of the region. However, the fruit is not overwhelming as the wine is also a bit more elegant in style, almost Burgundian.

Overall, this is one of my favorite Cotes du Rhones in most vintages, and the 2005 is no exception. Pricewise it does creep toward the higher end of the Cotes du Rhone range, but at around $16-$18 it is still a fine bargain for a wine of this quality.

2003 Lorenzo Begali Amarone (aka drinking to forget about the USC disaster)

So the day after the UVa-USC disaster, I figured what better way to redeem the weekend than buying and drinking a lot of wine. After a few stops at local Charlottesville stores, we went out to visit a couple of local wineries, Veritas and Afton. I must report that I am still underwhlemed by most Virginia wines, so no details to give. We then went to downtown Charlottesville to visit a fine wine bar I found last year, Enoteca.

This is a fine wine bar, specializing in Italian wines, and I found a gem that seemed an easy choice for Loudoun, Ashley, and I to split - the 2003 Lorenzo Begali Amarone. Having tasted a couple of Begali Amarones before (including the 03 I think last year and the full lineup in a fantastic tasting at Vinitaly) I was confident we would not be disappointed, and we were not. Ashley is not a huge red wine drinker, especially of bigger, fuller reds but she was quite enamored with this one. it was a great wine to redeem the weekend. I also recommend the wine bar itself, which offered a great selection of Italian wines ranging from inexpensive easy quaffers to some true hard-to-find gems (the Paolo Bea Sagrantino was tempting but a bit more expensive at $164).

2006 D'Arenberg The Laughing Magpie

Over the past few years, one of my favorite wines year in and year out has been The Laughing Magpie Shiraz-Viogner from D'Arenberg. This wine has become a very affordable one in the Atlanta market, selling for about $22 a bottle, much less than it used to and much less than I see in other markets. What makes it special is that to me it is one of the few wines that is more true to the roots of great Syrah/Shiraz - a Rhone-styled wine as opposed to the huge Aussie fruit bombs we have been inundated with. Perhaps it is the addition of a bit of Viogner, a sort of homage to Cote-Rotie, but this wine offers more depth and elegance than I get from most Aussie Shiraz today.

This was my first taste of the 2006 vintage, and once again I was not disappointed. The wine was very good now, but to be once again has the stuffing to last for a few years. I am saving a bottle or two each year to test how it ages, but based on tasting over multiple nights I think the potential is there. At this price, I love to drink this wine frequently with a nice steak. If you can't tell, I highly recommend this wine.

2006 Mas Que Vinos Ercavio

One of the many inexpensive Spanish wines that have gained critical acclaim over the past few years is Mas Que Vinos Ercavio. This Tempranillo from the region of La Mancha has garnered 90 point ratings from Parker over the past couple of years and I have certainly enjoyed the prior efforts.

However, this year's vintage did not wow me. Instead, I found this to be one of those wines that seems to have been produced in a simplistic style with lots of fruit but nothing to go with it. There was no real structure or complexity to the wine, and it instead reminded me of some of the Aussie wines that have come out lately. I don't know if my tastes have been changing some, or if this wine just isn't as good, but I was disappointed in this latest vintage.