Let us all take a moment
to observe the passing of what surely
had to be one of the silliest column names
around – ETFOFW. Although Easy to
Find, One Figure Wines had good intentions
of being literal, explanative, and straight-to-the-point,
it was not nearly as memorable or helpful
as intended. And so we mark the changing
of this feature’s title to…
Bargain Wines. Much better.
One of the main reasons
we’ve changed the name is that we
have often felt that we were overlooking
a lot of high quality wines in the "just
over $10" range. So we’re bumping
out our price limit to $15. But we really
mean $15. Really.
To kick off our newly redefined
feature, we’re looking at Novella
Winery.
Novella
wines are a new addition to the family
of wines from EOS
Estate Winery in Paso Robles. Debuting
in 2001, Novella Winery offers fruity,
food-friendly wines at attractive prices
– perfect for our Budget Wine feature.
We recently tasted four new releases,
and here’s the scoop:
($13). Our clear favorite of the tasting,
this wine is a blend of 45% Sangiovese,
45% Zinfandel and 10% Petite Sirah. Jammy
black cherry and blueberry fruit, with
hits of licorice and nutmeg, and waves
of sweet vanilla oak on the smooth finish.
Ready to drink now. It’s a great
food-friendly choice and would match well
with a wide range of foods. We paired
it with bruschetta topped with crème fraiche,
prosciutto, fresh figs and cracked black
pepper – delightful!
($13). This wine was a nice surprise –
we don’t find too many good Petite
Sirahs at this price point. Smooth and
tasty, medium-bodied, with velvety black
plum fruit accented with sweet clove and
smoke, ending with luscious mocha and
oak. Ready to drink now.
($11). We just were not too crazy about
this one. Red cherry fruit is light and
a little candied, getting sweeter and
picking up vanilla through the finish.
Ready to drink now.
($11). Medium to light bodied, with juicy
red cherry and strawberry fruit accented
with nutmeg, turning to sweet vanilla
oak on the finish. Would match up well
with Italian foods – especially anything
with tomato sauce. Ready to drink now.
This now-fabulously-named column used
to be called Easy To Find One Figure Wines,
for reasons that we cannot currently remember
but were surely enthusiastic about at
the time. Anyhoo, check out our Past
Issue Index for more great value-priced
wine selections!
