We can't think of any California wineries that have much respect for a five dollar bill.  Many in Napa ask you for $10 merely for the privilege of them "allowing" you to taste their wines (in hopes you'll spend the king's ransom it takes to secure a bottle of wine).

We probably have the best selection of Five Buck wines in the Bay Area, as we think it's important for a good bottle of wine to be available for small money.  The San Francisco Chronicle printed an article on "Bargain Wines" and our little wine emporium was cited as being a Bay Area leader in value-priced wines.


We've found some customers only think to come to Weimax when they're looking for a "special" bottle of wine, but please know we have really fine "everyday" bottles, too.

Many stores offer "wines they can sell."  Our philosophy is quite different:  We feature "wines we can recommend."  Heck, we like to enjoy a great wine for which we've not spent so much money...and we spend a lot of time looking for good values.  

A low price does not make for a good value.  A wine must be of good quality, first and foremost.  A good "value" is a wine which tastes more expensive than its price tag indicates.  Simply being cheap does not make for "good value." 

We hear from some people, speaking about some famous cheap wines, "Well, it's not bad for the price."  We disagree, especially when "it's not good for the price," either.

In any case, please know we have more respect for a ten dollar bill than most wine business folks.

Here are some suggestions from our current offerings:

BORSAO  Still SALE PRICED  $6.99
From the Aragon region of Spain comes this amazingly "soulful" wine.  It's dark in color and teeming with berryish fruit and a mildly spice note.

A blend of Garnacha and Tempranillo....this delicious!

Please note: Aside from the fact that this is a dynamite bottle of wine for six bucks-and-change, it makes a superb Sangria!

QUINTA DAS AMORAS  $5.99  (Currently Sold Out...Waiting for the Slow Boat from Portugal to Arrive...

The fellow who owns this estate is a real wine fancier and aficionado.  We trekked to his winery in Portugal's Estremadura region and found a number of really interesting wines...all well-made and of good quality.  

The wine is a blend of Castelão (Periquita), Camarate, Tinta Miúda and Touriga Nacional.  Medium-bodied and showing a dried cherry note, it's drinkable now and over the next year or so...

VIU MANENT  CABERNET SAUVIGNON 
SALE PRICE $5.99
We're big fans of this producer.  While you can buy thin, watery, sweet wine from California's Central Valley under labels such as Mondavi's Woodbridge, here's a dry, medium-full bodied red of exceptional intensity in this price range.

No oak.  A couple of weeks' maceration on the skins, so this even has a bit of tannin!  

CHARAMBA     SALE PRICE $5.49
Here's a dynamite red wine from Portugal's Douro Valley, a region that's famous for Port.

This is made of some of the same grapes that go into Port, except the wine is vinified dry.

You'll find some wonderfully spicy, peppery notes here as we liken this to a good Côtes du Rhône.

If you pour this into a fancy decanter and give it an hour or two to "breathe," your wine 'geek' friends will all guess this as something far more noble than a five buck red wine.

The "120" Series of Cabernet is not going to remind a connoisseur much of Mouton-Rothschild or Haut Brion.

But it is a delicious little red wine.

Though vinified from Cabernet, the wine is not tannic and it's smooth enough to drink now.  Think of it as "Cabernet meets Beaujolais."
In fact, we like it served lightly chilled.  

 

Currently in stock:  SANTA RITA "120" CABERNET SAUVIGNON  SALE $5.99

 

 

ALANDRA  Portuguese Red and White

Theses two simple table wines are amazingly good and they're attractively priced.
The red is dry, fairly soft on the palate and easy to drink.  It doesn't strike us as being "made for the American market," either...good, honest table wines.

No oak...the white is dry and fresh...really amazing for such a modest price.


Currently in stock:  ALANDRA RED $5.99
ALANDRA WHITE $5.99

GATO NEGRO CABERNET/MERLOT  SALE $5.49

This is vinified in the style of Beaujolais, so you'll find a very fruity, berryish quality to the wine.  We find it enjoyable as a picnic red and like it served moderately chilled, since it's smooth and virtually without tannin.  

They now are sold in a screw-cap bottle.

 

BONS VENTOS  SALE $5.99

There was an article in the SF Chronicle praising the wine selection in some small store where the author had been able to buy two nice bottles for about $25.
He spent about $12 for this and loved it, noting what a good value it is.

Well, we wouldn't offer this at $12, knowing it's a lovely everyday red that should sell for well under ten bucks.

Smooth, medium-bodied red from Portugal.
$5.99

ABEL CLEMENT 2010 Côtes du Rhône Blanc $8.99
Grenache Blanc is the predominant grape is this remarkably delicious dry white wine.  If a California vintner made this it would cost $30 and critics would proclaim the winemaker to be a hero for making such a good wine at such a reasonable price.
It's terrific.

PROTOCOLO  Sale $6.49
Here's a supple, smooth, medium-bodied Spanish red that's less fruity than the Borsao, for example.
It's a more 'traditionally-made' style of red wine.

IL POGGIO SANGIOVESE di ROMAGNA  Sale $6.99

This comes from a rather large winery in Emilia Romagna and it's not a particularly profound or exceptional red wine.  

Yet we have many fans who buy this as an accompaniment to a simple plate of Spaghetti & Meatballs or Lasagna...the wine simply "works" well on the dinner table (no table cloth, please!).

RESERVE DE L'AUBE SYRAH / MERLOT BLEND $6.99

Wow...remarkably nice wine--Rhône Meets Bordeaux.  It comes from the large Rhône merchant, J.P. Brotte.  Medium bodied, berryish and showing lots of red fruit notes  Nice clove-like spice.  Smooth, too.  

MASCIARELLI "MONTEPULCIANO d'ABRUZZO"  SALE  $7.99

The late Gianni Masciarelli's wine is well-known in Italy and yet it's one of the best kept secrets here in the U.S.  

This is another one of those wines that, served in a decanter, tastes like a seriously more costly bottle of wine.  Medium to medium-full bodied.

MARQUES DE DAROCA  GRENACHE/SYRAH Blend  $7.99
Here's a fairly full-bodied red from Spain made from Syrah and Garnacha vines.  The French call the latter grape Grenache and when you buy it from fancy-schmancy (that's a technical term) places such as Châteauneuf-du-Pape, bring your wife or husband, your pink slip and your checkbook.

This is a lovely example of a Rhône-styled blend...berryish, a hint of an earthy note and some spice (but not really peppery like some Grenache wines...more black and red fruit notes here).

Perfect for grilled or roasted red meats.

MARITMA  Tuscan Red $7.99
Here's a simple Sangiovese from southwestern Tuscany.  It's made by the Mantellasi winery.

It's a remarkably good wine and arrives here at an honest price, thanks to a good Bay Area importer.  No oak.  Nice cherry-like fruit and it's terrific with simple Italian-styled foods.

CAVE DE RASTEAU  COTES DU RHONE SALE $9.99

There's a large grower's co-operative in the town of Rasteau in the Southern Rhone.

Our friend Valerie Aigron works there, having spent time out of France working in the wine biz.  She's back "home" now and is one of the crew at this big producer.

The Cave de Rasteau is well-regarded as a source of "good" wine and they offer it as pricing which is quite attractive.

The 2010 Cotes du Rhone is not a profound, hugely complex, compelling bottle of wine.  It's not intended to be so.  They make this with the idea the consumer will buy it and open the screw-cap within, probably an hour or two of purchase (maybe sooner).

The wine is competently made and it's grown with the idea they're making economically-priced wine,   Grenache, mostly, with 20% Cinsault and 10% Carignane.  It's a lighter bodied red wine, which works out well, since it's lighter-priced, too.

We enjoy this served at cool cellar temp.

CASAL GARCIA VINHO VERDE  $6.99

This is a famous Portuguese white wine...it's low in alcohol, light in flavor and has just the right amount of oak...none!

McMANIS CABERNET SAUVIGNON SALE $9.99
McMANIS SYRAH  SALE $9.99
The McManis family has extensive acreage in the Central Valley, south of Lodi.

Winemaker Jeff Runquist, whose Runquist wines are very popular here at the shop, runs the cellar with another winemaker, Mike Robustelli.

These guys create some amazingly good and surprisingly stylish wines.  We're fans of their Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon.  

The Syrah is a dark, deep colored wine with lots of blackberry fruit and a touch of wood.  It's low in acidity and tannin, so drinking it now is ideal.

The Cabernet is as smooth as most commercial Merlots, but has a bit more body and richness.  It, too, is nicely oaked.

BIDALERE  CÔTES de GASCOGNE $9.99
The Beraut brothers make a sensational dry white wine in the southwestern part of France...superb.  No oak.

SALVALAI 2009 PINOT GRIGIO  Sale $8.49
From Italy's Veneto region, this is a dry, light, simple, fresh Pinot Grigio.  Remarkably good.

MARK WEST 2009 California PINOT NOIR (Sale) $9.99
The Vino Fino boys had this wine in a recent blind-tasting of Pinot Noirs from Burgundy and California.  I insisted on including a $25 ringer from Chile and it won the tasting.  But the second place wine, finishing ahead of Burgundy from Tollot-Beaut and Ramonet was this lovely, charming little California wine.  The winemaker used to work at the Peter Michael Winery and produced wines which cost more for a single bottle than this costs for a case.  
It's not a hugely profound wine, but it is a delightful, sort of Beaujolais styled, exuberantly strawberryish Pinot.  Very nice.

ABEL CLEMENT  GRENACHE  $6.99
One sales rep I poured this for got it right...I had asked him to guess how much this wine sells for.

"I'd say $12 for a French wine and $20 to $25 for a California."

And he's absolutely correct, except this remarkably delicious Vaucluse (Rhone area) red costs less than a six-pack of premium beer.  

If a California vintner had made this, wine writers would bestow sainthood on the winemaker.  Instead, this comes from a terrific grower's cooperative winery in the Southern Rhone.  Young, fresh, but not hugely fruity or grapey in the manner of a Beaujolais.  It's more restrained on the nose and has a gentleness and elegance on the palate.  

Seven bucks?  Are you kidding?  
Case discounts, too.

OISLEY-THESEE "TOURAINE" SAUVIGNON BLANC $7.99

There's a smallish grower's cooperative in the Loire near Touraine called Oisely-Thesee, a name which doesn't roll off the tongue of most American wine drinkers.

We've tasted this wine for many vintages and I think the 2010 is the first one we've brought in to the shop.
It's always well-made and, from our perspective, a shade skinny.
The 2010 isn't a big wine, nor is it a medium-bodied Sauvignon Blanc.  But for a nice, crisp, dry and light wine, this shows well, especially for it's eight-buck price.  
It's not as intense as our Sancerre and Pouilly-Fume wines, but most of those will set you back $17-$25.   

If you're steaming some clams or enjoying some fresh Dungeness crab and looking for a budget-priced bottle, this is worth trying.

CONCHA Y TORO CARMENERE $9.99
I tasted a really nice example of Carmenere and it's reasonably priced at ten bucks.  
Medium bodied, there's a nice dark fruit character here with a nice touch of oak.
Smooth on the finish, too.

MEIA PIPA  $10.99

The Bacalhôa winery south of Lisbon makes some really spiffy wines...the top bottlings will set you back $30, or so.

But in the realm of reality, they have a rather nice red called Meia Pipa.  It's a proprietary blend of 30% Castelão, 30% Aragonez (Tempranillo if you're in Spain), 30% Syrah and 10% of some odd variety known as Cabernet Sauvignon.

It is matured for a bit less than a year, typically, in French oak.  We like the dark fruit notes in the wine and find it to be a satisfying red at its modest price (case discounts, too).

QUINTA DOS GRILOS $9.99

The Dao region was, once upon a time, "the Napa Valley" of Portugal.  These days, we've seen the Douro area seems to have taken center stage for connoisseurs.

But there are still many good wines being made in the Dao and the Dao Sul winery offers this delightful Grilos red for a sensible price.

It's a relatively new wine company and the Grilos wine is made of Touriga National, Alfrocheiro and Tinto Roriz.  Medium-full bodied and show some ripe fruit and a touch of an earthy quality, it's ideal with braised meats or stews.

VALL MAJOR GRENACHE / SYRAH  $7.99

Here's a remarkably good Spanish red from the Celler Batea in the Terra Alta region.

This winery has been around since 1961 and they have more than 3000 acres of vineyards.  

The wine displays deep color and it's a bright, berryish red with a faintly spicy tone.  It's smooth and drinkable now. 

We like it served at cool cellar temp and it pairs well with red meats, roasted chicken, grilled sausages, roast pork and more...

LA CABOTTE 2010 COTES DU RHONE  Sale $9.99

While most entry-level bottlings of Cotes du Rhone come from co-op wineries, this one is a good, smallish, family-operated place owned by a family from Burgundy.  

The patriarch of the family had found this property some years ago and was enchanted by the prospects of having a warm climate, summer vacation getaway.  

Today they farm about 50 acres, most devoted to grapes, but some to olives.  

We'd tasted the wines over the past decade, or so, and it's only since about 2006 or 2007 that we've felt they're on the right track.  It's by far the best ten buck Cotes du Rhone in the market.

DOMAINE DUFFOUR 2010 CÔTES DE GASCOGNE $8.99

Michel Duffour is a brilliant producer of white wines...this is a delightful blend, but predominantly Ugni Blanc and Colombard.
Fresh, dry, and light (lower in alcohol than California Chardonnay, for example).

 

 

VIU MANENT RESERVA SAUVIGNON BLANC  SALE $6.99

They've clearly pushed the vineyards to produce an abundant crop of Sauvignon Blanc as the wine is a bit light, but still has enough character that you won't mistake it for anything other than Sauvignon Blanc.

It's dry and non-oaked and is a remarkably nice little wine for cocktail service or to pair with seafood.

 

 

 

 

 

BODEGAS LAN 2006 RIOJA "CRIANZA"  SALE $9.99

Lan makes good, sound, simple Rioja wines...In tasting through their line-up, I think the best wines are this entry level bottling and their high, high end deluxe wine.  
The 2006 is a medium-bodied, faintly-oaked Rioja...good for ten bucks.

 

GRILOS 2006 DÃO $9.99

This lovely, supple red from Portugal's Dão region used to cost $15.  
A new importer handles it and we're delighted to offer Grilos red for ten bucks.  Case discounts, too.

It's a nice, simple, medium-bodied red made of Touriga Nacional, Alfrocheiro and Tinta Roriz (Spain's Tempranillo).  It displays red fruit tones on the nose and in the mouth...not tannic, so it's quite drinkable immediately.

CHATEAU MOULIN DE FERRANDE  SALE $7.99

Here's a dynamite little white Bordeaux for less than the price of a glass of wine at a local restaurant...

It's Sauvignon Blanc with some Semillon and Muscadelle...lightly citrusy, no oak and dry.

PEDRONCELLI FRIENDS.RED  SALE $9.99

Sonoma County fruit...Merlot, Zin and Cab Franc.  A touch of oak.  Smooth, medium-bodied red...they had this on the drawing board well before the current economic downturn, but then Pedroncelli has always had good wines at honest, old-time prices.  It's quite good.

 

PELLEGRINI FAMILY BLEND  SALE $9.99

The Pellegrini family decided they ought to actually "sell" some wine instead of holding it at the winery.
Now they offer this remarkably nice ten-buck Sonoma County red, made from Zinfandel, Merlot and Carignane.  Smooth and medium-bodied.

TRENTADUE "OLD PATCH RED"  SALE $9.99

We think this is mostly Zinfandel from Sonoma and it sold for well more than ten bucks at one point in time.

In fact, the current blend, all from the Alexander Valley appellation, is 77% Zinfandel, 11% Petite Sirah, 11% Carignane and a drop of Sangiovese.

Now it's just ten bucks...and it's remarkably good.

ENGEL PINOT BLANC d'ALSACE $11.99

 

This is a really good dry white from a little family vineyard and winery along the Route du Vin in Alsace...no oak.  This shows a lovely appley fruit aroma and it's dry and has a modest level of acidity.

 

LA CORTE PRIMITIVO  $10.99

The La Corte wines come from Italy's Puglia region and they make wine for immediate consumption, so you won't need to set this bottle in the cellar for a decade for it to be drinkable.

Their Primitivo wine is, for our palate, a good, simple "pizza red."  It's medium bodied and not at all aggressive in terms of tannin.  

 

And then price is right.

 

 

POMELO 2009 SAUVIGNON BLANC $9.99 (Case discounts, too!)

This is made in Napa by Randy Mason, who's a bit of a Sauvignon Blanc specialist.  
It's got a citrusy, grapefruity aroma and the flavors are also along the lines of citrus.

It's zesty, crisp and not quite bone dry...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FORNAS PINOT GRIGIO  $9.99

Some friends of ours who live in Italy's Friuli region make this wine.

We used to import some of their wines in the late 1980s and early 1990s...the Bidoli family...

A couple of years ago, we introduced the Bidoli's to a local guy who imports Italian wines.

He didn't buy them that year, but today he's delighted to have some of their wines.

The brand is Fornas, as the Bidoli family purchased an old brick-making factory and converted it into a winemaking facility.  The old "furnace" now houses stainless steel tanks and some oak barrels as they produce a nice range of Friulian wines.

 

Pinot Grigio is a delight in terms of both taste and price.  It's a non-wooded wine and it's fresh, dry and reasonably crisp without being shrill.

 

 

MSH Napa Valley MERLOT  SALE $9.99

You know, you'll pay more than ten bucks just to visit a Napa winery and taste their expensive bottles of wines and yet here's a ten-buck Merlot from vineyards in Rutherford!

This is a fairly sturdy, mildly tannic red wine.  Clearly it was not made at the behest of some marketing department, as it's got a sturdy backbone and it's more similar to a cellar-worthy Cabernet in terms of structure than to Ten Buck California Merlot.

 

MSH, by the way = Mount Saint Helena.

 

LE ROC'S  FRONTON ROUGE  WINES $9.99

The Ribes brothers make our favorite Fronton wines...the local grape variety of prominence is called "Negrette" which is known in California as "Pinot Saint George."

This Le Roc is predominantly Negrette with a modest percentage of Syrah.  We like the berry and spice notes of this wine.  It's medium bodied and best, to our taste, served cooled to cellar temperature.

 

 

I added the beret to the smiley fellow on the label of this magnificent, soulful red wine...so don't expect to find the bottles in the shop with a guy sporting a little chapeau.

It's called the Folle Noire d'Ambat, a playful name for Negrette grown in a vineyard site called "Ambat."

The wine is dark in color and has a wild berry and spice fragrance.  

We just love it and for ten bucks, you may, too.

FALESCO VITIANO  SALE $9.99

The Falesco winery in a short drive north of Rome and it's located right on the border of Lazio and Umbria.

The owners are the Cotarella brothers.  Renzo supervises winemaking for the Antinori family, while Riccardo is a consulting winemaker for literally dozens of famous wineries around Italy.  And the fratelli have their own "little" enterprise called Falesco.

They make a remarkable attractive blend called "Vitiano".  It's a blend of Sangiovese, Cabernet and Merlot.  Several months in French oak adds a nice woodsy note to the wine and it's meant for immediate drinking.  Tastes expensive.

 

 

PERIQUITA $9.99

All over Portugal, wineries told customers their red wine was made from the Periquita grape.  Finally a court declared that the Periquita name was a "brand" owned by the Jose Maria da Fonseca winery and that only they had the rights to the name "Periquita."

It's a bit reminiscent of the usage of the terms "Xerox" and "Kleenex."

Anyway, we have Jose Maria da Fonseca's "Periquita," a wine made of the grape known around Portugal as Castelão.   This is an easily drinkable, simple red wine.  Berries...smooth.  Medium bodied.

MONCARO VERDICCHIO  $9.99

Moncaro is a prominent brand of wines from Italy's Marche region.

Most people speak derisively about grower's cooperative wineries, often with good reason.  But Moncaro actually produces wines which compare favorably to good independent wineries and they offer their wines are rather attractive prices.

I was a bit surprised to hear (so frequently) good things about Moncaro from competing, small winery owners and winemakers in the region.  

They make a couple of different Verdicchio wines and we like their entry level bottling for its good quality and modest price.  The wine tastes like Verdicchio and costs just ten bucks.  Dry, no oak, fairly low in alcohol, too....

BADIA DI MORRONA 2009 CHIANTI  Sale $10.99

The 2009 of Morrona's little Chianti is Delicious with a capital D!

It's snappy Sangiovese called "I Sodi del Paretaio" and the wine is medium-bodied and brightly cherryish.  It's a bit rounder on the palate than the popular 2008.  

Perfect pasta wine!

 

 

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    Last modified: May 13,  2012