Wine & Spirits - Summer 2022 - 57

100 Best for $20 or Less
Eguren Ugarte
$15
2016 Rioja Cincuenta (92 points) ^ The
Eguren family farms 320 acres of vines in
Rioja Alavesa, this wine a selection of their
tempranillo aged in new American oak
casks. It's inky-black and concentrated, yet
it holds itself with graceful power. With air,
pretty notes of strawberry and pomegranate
emerge, vivid red fruit with a sunny character
over the blackness. This would deliver satisfaction
at twice the price. -J.G. § Monsieur
Touton Selection, NY
Bela
$19
2020 Ribera del Duero Bela (92 points) ^
Bela is CVNE's project in Ribera del Duero,
based on 182 acres of vines in the sandand
clay-loam soils of Villalba and another
22 acres in small parcels in the highlands
around Moradillo de Roa (at an altitude of
3,280 feet), where the ground is packed with
stones. The wine is dark and satisfying, a
black robe of fruit cloaking the gentle tannins.
There's black currant jam and lingonberry
flavor in a completely dry, savory structure,
giving the wine an austere impression
at first. As it settles in, there's plenty of room
for grilled lamb, or coffee-rubbed barbecue.
-J.G. § Arano, Miami, FL
García Carrión
$9
2018 Rioja Pata Negra Vendimia Seleccionada
(88 points) ^ One taster described this
wine as umeboshi plums, another as rosemary,
thyme and Dr. Pepper. They both liked
it, especially for $9. It's heady with fruit, a little
baked, and pleasantly sweet in the cedary
finish. For brisket. -J.G. § CIV USA, Miami, FL
TuRKEY
Pasaeli
$12
2019 Aegean Karasakiz Cabernet Sauvignon
Çalkarasi (90 points) ^ A blend of
two local varieties with cabernet sauvignon,
this drinks like an Aegean bistro wine. Light
cherry-red, it's bright and lively, with a greenherb
crunch to the red-berry flavors; underneath,
there's an incense-like spice giving it
dimension, and the weight to take on a grilled
lamb chop. -T.Q.T. § Skurnik Wines, NY
Garzón
$20
2020 Maldonado Reserva Tannat (93
points) ^ This wine sets the bar for the coastal
vineyards of Uruguay with its dark-skinned
beauty, its fresh purple plum and lively red
berry flavors over the pencil-shaving notes
of the tannins. Grown in the coastal hills,
in decomposed granite, this is a New-World
floral essence of a French-Atlantic grape.
Bonterra
$18
2019 Mendocino County Pinot Noir (91
points) ^ A wine that smells of place, starting
with the coniferous scent supporting blackcherry
flavors, the texture polished by firm
but unobtrusive oak; it feels cool and collected,
and it's a steal for the price. -J.G. §
Mina Mesa
$15
2019 Paso Robles Hazeline Reserve Cabernet
Sauvignon (90 points) ^ Compact and
firm when first poured, this wine leads with a
scent of mocha and black grapes, then opens
into red fruits. Starting out plush, it finishes
lean and concentrated, with a spicy finish for
barbecue. (3,671 cases) -J.G. §
NEW YORK
Keuka Spring
$20
2020 Finger Lakes Cabernet Franc (92
points) ^ Youthful and bright, with wild-strawberry
and red-cherry scents grounded with a
green-olive verve, this grows more fruit-forward
with a few swirls in the glass. Its youth is
its best feature: Like a plump Chinon, it leads
with berry fruit, cut grass and tobacco. Still
a baby, it's well priced to cellar and uncork
throughout the year. -P.J.C. (321 cases) §
Girasole
$16
2019 Mendocino County Charlie's Blend
(92 points) ^ Charlie's Blend combines merlot,
cabernet sauvignon and petite sirah, and
for now the petite leads the charge, spicy,
sanguine, darkly luminous, with scents of
berries and mocha taking on a red tinge with
air. The flavors are dominated by spice-
mocha, clove, olive and chocolate-with
a cedary note that reminds you where this
wine is coming from-Mendocino forestadjacent.
-P.J.C. §
There's a thin, high wall of tannins to surround
all the bright fruit. It's not often that
you find such a satisfying wine for $20. -J.G.
Pacific Highway Wines, Greensboro, NC
CALIFORNIA
OREGON
Ransom
$19
2019 Willamette Valley Jigsaw Pinot Noir
(91 points) ^ A steal for the price, this leads
with wood spice and violets, tobacco leaf and
dark cherry. It's a touch stodgy, with a lean
texture and not all that much acidity at play
in the wine, but it does have the solid grip
for something rich, like duck confit. -P.J.C. §
WASHINGTON
Columbia Crest
$12
2018 Columbia Valley Grand Estates Cabernet
Sauvignon (92 points) ^ This surprisingly
complex cabernet completely overdelivers,
more vinous and layered than most
$12 wines, flaunting Washington's climatic
synergies with cabernet. It's foresty and dark,
showing an ash and olive scent before dark
caramel and mocha flavors emerge. The texture
is creamy and suave, its stolid structure
approachable, with tannins as soft and pliant
as brown sugar.-P.J.C. §
Boomtown
$19
2019 Columbia Valley Syrah (92 points) ^
Dark and plummy, with a youthful vibrancy
and modest peppery bite, this wine isn't so
much powerful as focused with deep juicy flavors,
good concentration and light tannins.
It's not complex, but it's thoroughly satisfying-nothing
fancy here-well-made, wellpriced
juice, delicious and straight-ahead for
ribs. -P.J.C. (2,397 cases) §
Waterbrook
$15
2019 Columbia Valley Melange Founder's
Red Blend (91 points) ^ A blend of merlot,
cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, petit
verdot and syrah, this is often one of Washington's
best values, and in 2019 it delivers
a wine reminiscent of Bordeaux in structure
and frame. From the vinous scents of forest
and tanbark to the sleekly oaked flavors,
this is a thoroughly satisfying, straight-ahead
blend for steak. -P.J.C. (1,500 cases) §
Columbia Crest
$12
2018 Columbia Valley Syrah (90 points) ^ A
steal of a syrah, this doesn't skimp on dark,
plummy fruit and oak: The glass seems filled
with a smoky savor. Pour early and often for
barbecue. -P.J.C. §
Kirkland Signature
$9
2019 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
(88 points) ^ This wine's green flavors
hint at the high yields of its sources, and yet
there's a juicy core of dark red-cherry fruit
Summ ER 202 2
WINE & SPIR IT S
57
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Wine & Spirits - Summer 2022

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