Vieux Lartigue Saint-Emilion Gran Cru 2008

This is the wine steal of the century - at least in my book!


A €30 bottle of Saint-Emilion for €15 in the Wein & Co. bargain bin: talk about sweet. Or, dry, actually. I was completely on the fence about the whole thing, until I decided, hey, this is a once-in-a-blue-moon kind of deal on my favorite type of wine! I would be a sucker not to get it, and spend the whole €30 on the bottle later, or never get it and wonder - what if?

I've been saving this one for a special occasion, and had a really rough weekend, so I figured tonight was as good a night as any to celebrate and pep myself up.

The wine is smooth, attractively deep and purple. The bouquet is a bit unusual. Upon opening the bottle, I was reminded of olive oil, tomatoes and strawberries. The flavor is more akin to black currants and blueberries. The finish is smooth and velvety.

I savored this particular bottle with a Greek salad, Pecorino cheese and a small slice of bakery bought Sachertorte. It's life's little pleasures, isn't it?

Rosé de Chevalier 2011

This delicious Bordeaux rosé was another bargain bin delight from Wein & Co. I am basically a sucker for anything with "Chevalier" in the name...perhaps it has something to do with the magnificent red wine once sampled in Montreal...? That was called something like "Vin du Moyen-Age."

The notes in this rosé are flowery, with a refreshing finish - a nice complement to this incredibly hot weather in Vienna (it was 29 today)! Rosé is often a tricky one to pull off, but in the summer, I like to think of it as a hot weather red. Although nothing can beat the rosé CB and I tried in 2008 in Mont de Marsin, a little town just outside Bordeaux, this came pretty close. Who says wine can't be a thirst quencher?

Cantina Due Palme Brindisi 2009

The Brindisi region of Italy is known for producing wines from the Malvasia (Malmsey) grape, a sweet grape also used in the production of Madeira port.

This is the third of the "bargain bin" wines bought from Wein & Co. (which means I'll have to go back soon! Yes, apparently I have changed my opinion of the place). It is slightly sweeter than what I had expected from an Italian wine, being partial to Chianti. However, once decanted, the taste grows on you. Not as sweet as the Zinfandel I bought on the same trip (I unfortuanltely am going to have to put that one in the "yucky" pile), but still, not a wine to have with dinner. I made the unfortunate mistake of opening mine to sample with the roasted garlic and Brie I made...oops. That should teach me to assume an Italian wine is going to be dry.

Perhaps I'm a hopeless snob, but I did prefer the Brisini to the Zinfandel, although the tastes, textures, colors, etc., were similar. I am not a fan of sweet red wines, unless they are meant to be drunk with dessert. Perhaps this is a good time to bone up on my Italian so I can actually read the wine label and save myself from certain...errors in the future.

All was not lost, however, as this wine is better once decanted (i.e. left to sit out in my kitchen over night...) and tasted much better with a piece of Milka chocolate the next evening after supper!

Wein & Co. & the Bargain Bin

Recently, I was at the Naschmarkt, getting some cooking supplies/ingredients, when I saw a big, fat red sign in the window of Wein & Co. (a chain liqueur store in Vienna) which read: 50% OFF SUMMER CLEARANCE! Which lured me in, and I'm glad it did: I got 3 interesting wines for under 20 euros. Now, unfortunately, Wein & Co. has a reputation for me...and not a very good one.

Here's why:

1) I despise chain stores.
2) This is the very place I got that quite disgusting rose mentioned in this post.
3) The prices seem overly inflated for tourists and the like.
4) Being unable to afford expensive, quality wine, I normally just stake out one or two of my tried-and-true brands sold at the grocery store where I shop.
5) Being the consummate bargain hunter, I look at price tag first.

But, being the consummate bargain hunter, I am also lured by getting something for less that sticker price. And, with 50% off nice wines, I can start to afford them! From this expedition, I found: a Portuguese wine, a California wine, and a French wine.

More to come...once they've been "taste tested"...