Bargain Wine Picks of the Week – May 23

This is a series of weekly bargain wine picks by the members of the Vintage Wine Tasting Club. It appears that this week the other Vintage Wine Club members were drinking expensive wines because I did not receive any recommendations from the members for bargain wine picks. Therefore, I am going solo this week on wine picks. These are my two bargain wine picks for the week.

MontGras Reserve Chardonnay 2008 – $5.99 at BevMo
This will be the first time I am in agreement with Wilfred Wong on scoring a wine. I usually am much more conservative than he is in allotting points to a BevMo wine. But on this crisp and flavorful MontGras Chardonnay, I am in total agreement with Wilfred Wong’s 88-point assessment. This wine has topical fruit aromas and flavors with just the right touch of oak. The wine is refreshing and makes for a great summer wine. This is not a big Chardonnay with a creamy mouthful or butterscotch flavors. The regular price at BevMo is $9.99 and, even at that price, it is a great deal. MontGras Winery is in the Colchagua Valley of Chile. We visited this winery in 2009 and it is a very modern winery with the latest in high-tech winemaking equipment. Grab a bottle of this screw-top bottle and give it a taste.

Pear Valley 2005 Syrah, Paso Robles – $60 case price at the winery.
We were in Paso Robles this past week and stumbled on this sale. Like so many wineries, the recession has caused a serious inventory build up, and they need to clear wine for the next vintages. This wine, although lacking depth and layers of flavors, is a good, solid everyday wine with typical Syrah nose and flavors. It is not a big wine, more medium bodied. I thought the finish was a little hot, but I can put up with that for $5 a bottle. You can order this special online on the Pear Valley Website or you could just take a wine country getaway to Paso Robles. The Pear Valley winery has one of the prettiest views of any winery in Paso Robles. It is a great spot for a picnic lunch among the vineyards.

BevMo Starts Seven Sale – May 24 through May 30
I just received a BevMo brochure in the snail mail announcing their BevMo Days Sale. The brochure says that hundreds of my favorite wines will be on sale. We shall see!