"Tuesday night" wine... on a Friday

This past Friday we hosted a wine tasting of "Tuesday night" wines - inexpensive (under $20), easy-drinking wines that you can reach for on a random night for any occasion or lack thereof. My go-to choice is the Marques de Caceres Rioja, which I have written about before.  I probably drink a bottle of this every other week. We shared it with our group to rave reviews. You can't beat the price ($10.99 at Trader Joe's) and the consistency. 

Highlights from our guests:

Super excited to have Txakoli in America! This pink Ameztoi is under $10 and has the classic refreshing crispness of this coastal Spanish/Basque wine with the salty finish, bringing me back to our recent trip.


A couple years ago at a Beaujolais tasting I was disappointed by the category and wrote it off, but I actually really enjoyed this Domaine de Colette Beaujolais-Villages, with its earthy, minerally subtle fruit flavor.

Another Spanish wine, this Volver 100% Tempranillo from La Mancha, Spain, stood up well next to my Marques.

What's your favorite "Tuesday night" wine?

More Rioja!

I guess Rioja is my wine of the month, if I had one! Yesterday came the sad news of the passing of Enrique Forner, founder of Marques de Caceres, the iconic Spanish Rioja brand. This is my go-to value wine, with the Crianza priced around $10. It is consistent and always tasty. I actually have a bottle at home right now.

Last week we had our Wines of Spain tasting class at SFWC, featuring 3 wines from Rioja, a white and 2 reds. This Lopez de Heredia Vina Tondonia White Rioja from 1993 was very unique, with an almost Sherry-like expression on the nose but a creaminess on the palate. Great acidity and dry with complex flavors of marzipan and meringue. Six years of aging so the oak was very well integrated. The wine is composed of estate grown Viura (90%) and Malvasía (10%), traditional Spanish white grapes in the region.

Viva Rioja!

Wines of Spain - que ganga!

Over the weekend my sister Zara came to visit and experienced dinner and wine tasting with the Wiemer crew. Usually people bring random wine and we blind taste and try to see who can get the most points for the best guesses. But, this time we decided to organize the education process a little bit by focusing on wines of Spain. Maressa made delicious paella and we each brought a Spanish wine. We learned the following: 1) most mainstream Spanish reds are made from Tempranillo and Garnacha, 2) the Spanish white grape Albarino is pretty reliable, and 3) Spanish wines are a great value! Not 1 bottle cost over $20, and we enjoyed all of them. Zara was a little nervous about her wine (I sent her to get a Garnacha) but it was a hit - 2007 Tres Picos Borsao ($16.99). Joe brought the only white - 2008 Martin Codax Albarino Rias Baixas ($12.99), which we both really liked. I did pretty well too with a classic - 2005 Marques de Caceres Rioja Crianza ($14.99). So glad Fred thought of this theme! Maybe Italy will be next... I could use a refresher on that country too.