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Christian Galliani & Wine for the 99 pick the best wines under $20 from small estate and organic vineyards.
10-TERRA SACRA BONARDA
9-LEESE FITCH PINOT NOIR
8-HOMAGE "RAVENOUS RED"
7-APOTHIC RED
6-ALASIA BRACHETTO D'ACQUI
5-JAILLANCE CUVEE IMPERALE
4-WYATT CABERNET SAUVIGNON
3-LAYER CAKE PRIMITIVO
2-HOGUE LATE HARVEST RIESLING
1-DOW'S TAWNY PORT
On my birthday, I'd love to have a few of these price dream wines, but fortunately there are many affordable alternatives. Here are my top 10!
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Here's the second installment in my top ten wine under $10 for the holiday season. Drink them, gift them, take them to a holiday party, but above all know that you don't have to be in the 1% to drink exquisite wine. Domaine Puech Cocut is easily drinkable on its own, but can pair well with roast chicken or a creamy mushroom risotto.
Read MoreI'll be sharing my top ten wine under $10 for the holiday season. Drink them, gift them, take them to a holiday party, but above all know that you don't have to be in the 1% to drink exquisite wine. First us is Tilia Malbec from Mendoza, Argentina. Being the son of an Argentine father ...
Read MoreCheck out many of my wine recommendations under $10 here in this infographic from selfstorage.com.
Read MoreFriends I wanted to reach out and appeal to our sense of global community and compassion. Very often it is easy to take my day-to-day blessings for granted, and grumble about the inconveniences and annoyances that can get under my skin around the holiday season.
Read MoreNothing in the wine world says summer quite like a dry French Rose. Very much like the season it is marketed around, I eagerly await rose’s arrival every year like a schoolboy does the month of June.
Read MoreThe first selection is Chateau Valcombe Ventoux Rose 2012; which honors my mother’s feminine elegance with a dry finish to match her sense of humor. This dry, estate-bottled, beautifully pink Rosé is a blend of Grenache Noir (60%), Cinsault (20%), Carignan (10%) and a touch of Clairette (10%). The vines are 40-years old on average. It is bone dry and features a refreshing and bracing acidity with a fine, long finish. It does show surprising backbone for a Rosé so this wine that will suit different kinds of Mother’s day lunches; either a picnic with soft cheeses and spring salads or at an upscale lunch of Thai food or shell fish. At $14.99 this winealso highlights another of my mother’s favorite things: A great deal.
Read MoreWhenever one of my out-of-town friends pays a visit to New York, I always recommend they book their return flight from Newark Airport, and I even magnanimously offer to drive them there. They are often skeptical of the offer, but invariably accept, as JFK and LaGuardia are usually crowded and expensive to travel through in comparison.
On the way to the airport I suggest stopping in Newark for lunch. My guests typically will nervously laugh, assuming that Newark is a cross between an episode of The Wire and Robocop. Surprise. We drive into an area of Newark known as the Ironbound, where urban blight, crackheads, and dreary industrial scenes give way to cheerful two-story brick buildings, flower-decorated sidewalks, green spaces, and restaurants lining the streets. The name comes from the old ironworking plants, which were magnets for the Portuguese laborers who used to populate the neighborhood.
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Chateau Sainte Colombe Cotes de Castillon 2006
This has been a year of milestones for me. I turned 40 last month, my first book was published in October, and I am due to get married in March. So it is natural to become a bit reflective. A lot has changed. I was looking through an old photo album, and couldn’t help but laugh at the clothes I wore in high school (the Doc Martin shoes, the cuffed pants, the flight jackets), or the music (this fluctuated from year to year). I no longer have the mane of long hair I was so proud of my freshman year of college; in fact, I don’t have any hair on my head nowadays.
But there are a few constants; I still adore the New York Yankees and worship them at the “Cathedral of Saint George” on 161 St every season, my favorite meal is still a thick medium rare steak, and I still have a weakness for raven haired, classically beautiful, brainy women.
These things are classics in my estimation and will never go out of Vogue.
Nothing in the world of wine says “Classic” quite like the Bordeaux region of France. Steeped in tradition and class, it has routinely produced arguably the “Best wines in the world.” Bordeaux is the standard by which all others are judged.
Being in a nostalgic mood the other night, but still saving for the aforementioned wedding, I reached for a bottle of Chateau Sainte Colombe 2006 to pair with our weekly steak dinner. ($16.99)
This elegant blend of 70% Merlot, and 30% Cabernet Franc was an exquisite choice. I uncorked it and decanted the wine while chatting with Danielle as the meal was being prepared. Upon pouring the first glass, the aromas that greeted me were woody and slightly smoky on the nose.
By the time the Rib eye was on my plate, the wine has opened like a flower in bloom. The taste of red cherry, with a hint of white pepper, soft round tannins and that trademark long Bordeaux finish was accentuated by the juicy, sumptuous steak.
My eyes rolled into my head as I took in all the gorgeous little micro flavors and the pleasure centers in my brain went into overdrive.
Vinified for food, this is the desired effect of a good glass of Bordeaux. A 2006, it has enough time in the bottle to really develop that velvety mouth feel, this wine drinks like one of its very expensive siblings also made by Gerard Perse, who in addition to this wine, also makes Chateau Pavie which sells for hundreds of dollars a bottle.
So, in retrospect, trends come and go, and markets go up and down. But fortunately the more things change, the more they stay the same, as the cliché goes. Like great Bordeaux wine, a good steak, and marrying the wonderful girl next door.
Salute!
-Christian