Two quality red wine bargains

Red Wine Bargains

It is the party time of the year and if you are hosting a gathering, these two red wine bargains are good choices. Both are under the $10 mark and your guests will be quite happy with these wines.

Pascual Toso 2011 – Costco $9
Readers of this blog know that I am a big fan of this Malbec from Mendoza, Argentina. Vintage after vintage, this wine delivers the goods. Just about every wine critic has this wine on their bargain wine list. We purchased this wine at the Safeway, but we also see it at The Wine Stop in Burlingame and K&L Wines. It is a big-production wine so there is plenty of it around. This is a good food wine with great balance. I like the characteristics of red fruit and just a tad of oak. The tannins are few in this wine, so don’t put this one down to age. Drink it now and enjoy it with pizza, pasta, chicken, and red meat. It is a delightful wine at this price and I give it 88 Points.

Bogle Merlot 2010 – Various stores for $8
I have been wanting to try this wine for some time now based on recommendations from friends and a few readers of this blog. At a birthday celebration, this was the red wine provided at the party. I was pleasantly surprised how enjoyable it was to drink this wine in a festive setting. It is a wine that goes well with a variety of appetizers and especially a deli sandwich. It is a comfortable and mellow wine that is an easy-drinking Merlot from this family-owned winery in Clarksburg, CA. There is not much depth to this wine in terms of layers of flavors and elegance, but remember the wine is $8. I doubt you can do much better unless you find a close-out deal somewhere. The wine comes in at 13.5% alcohol. You can find this wine at a variety of wine shops and supermarkets for $8 to $11. I purchased it at a Safeway in San Mateo for $7.99. I rate it 87 points.

If you missed my previous post on finding bargain wines in the Wine Spectator Top 100 Wines of 2012, be sure to read it and find out where you can buy these wines.

Costco in Foster City has some very interesting large-format wine bottles for the holidays at ridiculously discounted prices. Are they bottled just for Costco?

Lastly, Laurie Daniels, wine writer for the San Jose Mercury News, recommends ten wines for under $20.