Sure, a trip to France this
summer sounds like fun. But if your budget,
work schedule, kids, mortgage, credit
card limits, and English-only language
skills combine to make that about as likely
as Destiny’s Child pulling up in
a limo to offer you a ride, then splash
a little France in your glass in your
own backyard. Hands down, your best
under-$10 option on French wine in terms
of consistency and quality is Syrah.
And the best part is that this is easy
French wine shopping. No fancy appellations
to learn. You don’t have to worry
about vintages or words like cru, vignes,
or terroir. Just look for the word "Syrah"
and a price tag under $10, and give it
a try.
If you’re not familiar
with the syrah grape, here are a few basic
facts. This is a red wine that usually
features a slightly spicy currant fruit
flavor. The syrah grape is made into big
fancy wonderful wines in France’s
Northern Rhone Valley, and goes by the
name Shiraz in Australia. These under-$10
French Syrahs will be light to medium
bodied wines, with little to no mouth-puckering
tannins. These are food-friendly wines
that you can pair with just about anything.
Sure, some will be better than others.
But at this price, you can afford to experiment.
Here are a few to try:
($8). Lurton
is a good name to learn for widely available,
affordable, good quality French wines.
(We also like their Viognier!) This wine
is the poster child of this issue’s
ETFOFW. Medium-bodied with black cherry
fruit balanced with spice and earthiness.
Ready to drink now.
From the same winemakers
comes the ($8). Equally good
quality, but a different fruit profile.
This one is bursting with berry and ripe
red cherry fruit, with a bit more spicy
oak on the finish. Ready to drink now.
($7). A friend
from New York introduced me to this wine.
It is a classic bang for your buck ETFOFW
choice. More body than you might expect
for the price, this wine is full of concentrated
currant and berry fruit with a peppery
kick. Ready to drink now.
But really, the point here
is that you should feel free to buy whatever
you see on the shelves in your local wine
store. These wines should be consumed
soon after they’re released, so while
you don’t need to worry about good
vs. bad vintages, do try and stick to
the most recently released wines. The
1999 vintage is on the shelves now.
Pop one of these babies
open tonight, and raise your glass to
the comforts of home and a good wine at
a cheap price. Unless you’d rather
be standing in line in the summer heat
with hundreds of screaming kids and hordes
of tourists at the Eiffel Tower…
Cheers!
To everyone who has sent us an ETFOFW
suggestion -- you rock! As for the rest
of you, what's the dealio? Let us know
about your favorite ETFOFW. Just drop
us a line at editor@wineskinny.com.
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