Falernia Syrah – Bargain wine picks of the week – September 19

This is a series of weekly bargain wine picks by the members of the Vintage Wine Tasting Club. We meet every other month for a formal tasting session but in between we communicate with each other whenever we discover a great wine bargain. We love the sport of bargain wine hunting. Here are our bargain wine picks from the past week.

Falernia 2007 Syrah – Costco $8 (Mike’s Pick)
The Falernia 2007 Syrah is from the Elqui Valley of Chile. It received a 90-Point rating from the Wine Spectator, and at $8 it is a very nice bottle. Not long or intense but an easy drinking Syrah. It is a sound bottle of wine and will not disappoint those who want a smooth, low tannin wine with nice fruit. You could do a lot worse. I bought a few bottles and will drink them within the next few months.

Clayhouse 2008 Adobe Red – Whole Foods $9.99 (Joe’s Pick)
The Clayhouse Adobe Red is a blend of 8 varietals, but the predominant grape is Zinfandel at 40%. It is a medium-bodied wine, but with a meaty characteristic and a good variety of flavors. You can drink this wine with a number of foods, roast chicken, pizzas, and of course any red meat. I found this wine at the San Mateo Whole Foods and it’s one of their summer wines they have on sale. I like it at this price point.

Trentadue Patch Red 2009 – Weimax Wines – $9.99 Joe’s Pick
This one is another very nice and respectable wine in the $10 category. This one received a gold medal in the 2011 San Francisco Chronicle Tasting. It is mostly Zinfandel but has some Petite Syrah, Carignane, and Sangiovese. It is much lighter in style than the Clayhouse Red and goes well with salmon and chicken dishes. The grapes are all from the Alexander Valley near Geyserville where the Trentadue Winery makes its home.

The BevMo Fall 5 Cent Sale started last week and we posted our best picks for this sale. There are some dandies that look like inventory clearance wines from various wineries.