Here’s why I really love picking out wines in an actual liquor store: It’s because I really want people to have a good life at home. One of the miracles of food is that if you know how to make popovers and get some Hope butter to spread on them, you can be a kindergarten teacher in a studio apartment and eat as well as Jay Z, Jeff Bezos, Charles Koch—pick your billionaire. When it comes to wine though, regular people are at a disadvantage, because the billionaires have employees on the payroll to go through the world’s wines and find the good ones. What’s fair about that? Nothing. And that’s why I like to find the good stuff, on your behalf, and on a reasonable budget, because why should Jay Z have a better Friday night than you? I think if you pick any of these, no billionaire possibly will be living larger than you:
The March theme is Cheers to Spring. Because I love snow, but I’m sick of winter, so every time I’ve raised a glass I think: This is sunshine from somewhere, bottled. Cheers!
bottle of unfiltered claret
Bonny Doon A Proper Claret, 2014, $9.99
An old-fashioned style of wine like they drank in English manor-homes. The spicy, cedar-scented, unfiltered wine from biodynamic vineyards is lean, minty, peppery, and a dream of a table wine for everything from roast meats to buttery breads.
L’Agnostique Cinsault Rosé 2017
A truly sophisiticated and elegant rosé, tart, dry, and sleek, with a mineral backbone and a hint of strawberry in the finish. It makes you crave oysters and French fries, grilled fish and popcorn and little strong olives. Grown none too far from the Mediterranean in the Languedoc, is it time for you to raise a glass like the French do?
Bottle of moscato d'asti
Vietti Cascinetta Moscato D’Asti 2017, $12.99
Friends. Friends. This wine is springtime in a glass. It’s rose petals and apricots, peaches and peach blossoms, it’s joy put in a glass. It is a little sweet—but if you’re not afraid of sweet it’s about as perfect a real Italian Moscato as you’ll ever find. Such a beautiful pairing with cheese, prosciutto, salty snacks like almonds, and fresh fruit or cake. Imagine the biggest, most opulent bouquet of flowers you could ever imagine, and then imagine it in a bottle. That’s this.
Carmenet Cabernet Sauvignon, California 2015, $7.99
One of America’s biggest wine companies is called Bronco, and while they make a lot of low-end brands they have a lot of high-caliber talent, who play around and show off making high-end (for them) wines like this. Soft and polished, this really concentrated wine has that definite very-expensive-Napa-Valley taste. No hard edges, no flaws, just a perfect cheeseburger or pizza-night wine.
Murphy Goode 2016 The Fumé Sauvignon Blanc North Coast, $9.99
Very light, very crisp, this pale beauty opens up over time to reveal a fragrance of white peach and dry lemon peel within the mineral and white pepper notes. Lovely for patio season with cheese and fruit, or on its own with Netflix and take-out pad thai.
bottle of evódia wine
Evodia Garnacha, 2017, $8.99
A red wine from Northern Spain from one of wine-world’s biggest importing stars, Eric Solomon, a champion of native grapes. The wine is just rippingly alive with blackberry fruit flavors and a peppery tannic quality—it comes from slate hills, and if you seek it out you can really taste that slatey note. A gorgeous house wine for grilling, drinking on the couch with a burrito, a great case-pick.
