I’ve decided to take a position on 2009 Bordeaux.  The only problem is my cellar is almost full.  My building’s parking garage is climate controlled but I don’t think it’s exactly kept to 55 degrees year round.  Anybody in the Chicago area have a some extra cellar space?

I haven’t been disappointed in a 2009 Bordeaux yet.  In fact, they keep getting better.  This 2009 Chateau Lilian Ladouys, from the Medoc’s Saint-Estèphe appellation (next door to Pauillac), is off the charts for the $23.95 asking price.  This wine reminds me of the first time I had the 2005 La Vieille Cure.  It’s chocolatey and rich with ripe flavors and copious sweet oak. The finish is 25+ seconds and it’s extremely concentrated as well.  But as opulent as it is, this wine is also balanced and focused with firm tannins that suggest it will age well for at least a decade and likely much longer if stored properly.

This Bordeaux is an outrageous value.  While more great 2009 Bordeaux deals are sure to come, this one, with four ratings between 90 and 94 points, is sure to remain at the top of the heap!

Buy Here: 2009 Chateau Lilian Ladouys Saint-Estephe $23.95

Wine Spectator 92 points

“On the toasty, more modern side of the spectrum, with ambitious roasted fig, apple wood and blueberry confiture notes followed by racy graphite, espresso and blackberry pâté de fruit. Not shy, but has the density for balance. Best from 2013 through 2024.”

Robert Parker 90 points

“Elegant, with loads of black currant fruit, cherries and dusty, loamy soil notes as well as hints of tobacco leaf, spice box and cedar, it is a medium to full-bodied, nicely textured, fleshy wine that should drink nicely for 10-15+ years.

This is the best wine I have ever tasted from this property, which has gone through many changes and frequent listless, uninspiring performances. The change to a better class of St.-Estephe was started by the late Vincent Mulliez, who passed away tragically last year, but who got things started by reducing yields, cleaning up the place, eliminating the TCA that had tainted so many wines in the past, and going with a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Merlot. The result is the best wine they have ever made, or at least the finest I have ever tasted from them.” (WA)

Wine Enthusiast 92-94 points

“A fine and spicy wine, the wood toast well integrated with the sweet fruit. Deliciously ripe Merlot vies with the Cabernet tannins to give a dark, complex wine.”

James Suckling 93 points

“Best wine ever from here, with layers of ripe fruit, spices and milk chocolate character. Full and long. Velvety. Gorgeous. Best after 2018.”

My first exposure to the Rusack brand was during a weekend trip to Catalina Island in the summer 2010.  We heard from several islanders that the Wrigley/Rusack family was preparing to release the first ever Catalina Island wine.  Later that year, we planned a trip to Santa Barbara County wine country and remembering the Rusack name, I decided to look them up and visit their beautiful Ballard Canyon location.

I haven’t heard much more about their Catalina Island wine, but their estate wines from Ballard Canyon are fantastic.  Stolpman has put Ballard Canyon on the map as one of the top spots in the country for Syrah and Rusack’s last couple of Syrah confrim that.  Their 2009 Ballard Canyon Estate is a dark brooding wine that pours a deep, almost black color, and shows huge concentrated blueberry on the nose and palate.  This an extracted wine that’s best decanted far ahead of time.  As I sit here writing this, it’s day three and the wine is at its best!

This wine received 91 points from Stephen Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar, who tends to be very hard to impress.  Antionio Galloni from Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate doesn’t like it quite as much at 87 points, but I would side with Tanzer.  This is a great wine.

California’s Central Coast might release more under $20 values than any other domestic wine region, and at $19.95, Rusack’s Ballard Canyon Estate Syrah is another to add to the list!

Buy Here:  2009 Syrah Ballard Canyon Estate $19.95

International Wine Cellar 91 points

(includes 17% petite sirah): Inky ruby. Fresh blackberry and floral aromas show very good clarity and a strong note of peppery spices. Supple and gently sweet, with strong raspberry and blackberry flavors complemented by a vanilla nuance and firmed by dusty tannins. The finish is broad, spicy and impressively persistent. I’d hold off on opening this syrah for a couple more years but it drinks nicely now with some air.

Wine Advocate 87 points

The 2009 Syrah Ballard Canyon Estate is a big, jammy wine loaded with black fruit, plums, spices and licorice. It shows good depth, but little in the way of true complexity. Anticipated maturity: 2011-2014.

I was very impressed with the Chardonnays and Pinots I tasted from Rusack. The Syrahs appear to be works in progress, but given the level of the best wines here, I see no reason why they can’t be of similar quality. Hopefully that will happen sooner rather than later.

Happy Friday!  LA Wine Co. is selling FULL BOTTLES of non-vintage Pommery Brut Royal for $19.95.  This is a textbook Champagne (you know – the kind from France), for the lowest price in the country by $8.39!  Actually, I can honestly say this is the lowest priced Champagne I’ve ever seen, and it’s not some random no-namer.  It’s Pommery!!!

Buy Here: Pommery Brut Royal $19.95

Wine Spectator 89 points

“Broad and inviting, exhibiting peach, honey and spice flavors. This is creamy and, though balanced on the soft side, stays focused, with moderate length. Drink now. 5,568 cases imported.”

This is probably going to be one of many posts on 2009 Bordeaux deals so going forward I’ll post a link to the 2009 Bordeaux tag, where you can easily access all of the deals.

Whenever I see a wine under $10, especially a red, I’m skeptical.  It’s just very difficult to produce, market, ship and sell a decent bottle for that price.  But the 2009 Bordeaux vintage is so good, I gave this $6.99 bottle a shot.

I’m very glad I did.  This is simply an all around delicious wine, with no qualifiers like “for the price” necessary.  To me, that’s the true measure of a great daily drinker.  I don’t want a wine that’s “good for $7″, because good for $7 frankly isn’t very good.  I want a wine that’s just good!

2009′s rich, ripe vintage character shines through in this Bordeaux where the 60% Merlot produces a broad feel on the palate.  This wine will embarrass other 2009′s that cost 4x, and lesser vintages that cost 10x.  As usual, L.A. Wine Co has the lowest price in the country.

Buy Here: 2009 Chateau du Prieur “Cuvee Reserve” $6.99

My dog is as excited about this wine as I am!

2009 and 2010 are both outstanding vintages in southern Rhone and, especially in France, great vintages mean great values.  Domaine Le Couroulu’s 2009 Cuvee Classique hails from the Vacqueyras region of southern Rhone. Vacqueyras is located very close to Chateauneuf-du-Pape but (obviously) doesn’t carry the tariff.  In fact, I seriously doubt you could get any CdP for $16, let alone one with 90 and 91 point ratings.

This is a firm wine that needs another year in the cellar, or a long decant to really show its stuff.  That’s a good thing for a wine in this price range!  This is very well made with a broad, concentrated palate and a dry, lingering finish.  In a word: impressive.

If you’re stuck drinking $15 California Cabs, you really ought to look toward Rhone varietals for far higher quality for the price (a.k.a value).   Grenache and Syrah both thrive California, Washington, France, Spain and Australia and because of these grapes’ wide range of styles their wines offer broad appeal.

For a wine planted firmly in daily drinker territory for many of our readers, this is a no brainer.

Buy Here: Domaine Le Couroulu 2009 Vacqueyras Cuvee Classique $15.95

International Wine Cellar 91 points

“(60% grenache, 20% syrah and 10% mourvedre): Deep ruby. Red and dark berry aromas are complemented by Asian spices and floral oils. Energetic but deep in raspberry and blackberry flavor. Shows a refreshingly spicy quality on the finish, which clings with very good authority and length.” (IWC)

Wine Spectator 90 points

“Ripe and fleshy, delivering a lovely velvety feel to the crushed plum, braised fig and steeped red and black currant fruit notes, all backed by roasted mesquite and tobacco flavors. This is broad, but well-defined, too. Rock-solid. Drink now through 2015. 700 cases imported. ”

Robert Parker 90 points

“The most forward and drinkable of these offerings is the 2009 Vacqueyras Cuvee Classique, which is a blend of 60% Grenache, 25% Syrah and 15% Mourvedre primarily aged in cement tanks. This gorgeous effort reveals abundant notes of tapenade, black cherries, soy, new saddle leather, blackberries and earth. This seductive, round, generous, pure, velvety-textured 2009 should drink well for 7-8 years.

This impressively run, 40-acre Vacqueyras estate has consistently made top-notch wines for many years.”

If you read Wine Spectator’s March issue, you’re aware of the outstanding values the second wines of Bordeaux’s top Chateau.  Napa has a long history of copying (and often improving upon) French winemaking, so it comes as no surprise that some of the Napa Valley’s top labels also produce some fantastic second wines.

Here are some of my favorite second wines, in no particular order, with first/flagship wine in parenthesis.  When possible, I linked wines that are available for purchase .

Darioush Caravan – $37.95 (Darioush Signature – $88)

Since the 2007 vintage, this has not only been a great second wine, but one of my favorite Napa Cabernets, period!  It’s a huge, complex wine that completely destroys most Napa Cabs both on quality and value.  The price has gone up from $30 since the 2007 vintage, so I would recommend picking it up before it hits the $40 mark.

Joseph Phelps – $39.95 (Phelps Insignia – $129.95)

Though I haven’t tasted the currently available 2008 vintage, every “regular” Phelps Cabernet I’ve had has been absolutely outstanding.  They’re ageworthy, elegant and powerful, all at the same time.  And at 3 for 1 compared to Insignia, they’re a great deal too.

Paul Hobbs Crossbarn – $36.95 (Paul Hobbs Napa – $69.95)

In a way this is actually a third wine.  The best lots go into Hobbs’ single vineyard bottlings ($130 – 400) with the rest going into the Napa Cabernet and Crossbarn, also from Napa.  Crossbarn is a great wine, made in the massive, fruit (and oak) forward style Paul Hobbs is known for.

For what it’s worth I have all of the wines listed above in my cellar, including the main or first wines.  While I can confidently endorse all of them, the second wines are a great way to explore the style of the winery without taking out a second mortgage on your house.  That way, when you are ready to take out the second mortgage, you will know it’s going to be worth it!

This is another one of those instances where I ask myself “how do they make this wine for $9?”  It really is shocking.  But Hahn Estates keeps cranking out values as fast as I can try them.  If you are looking for great wine values, particularly Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Syrah, look at the the Central Coast, which covers the area between LA and San Francisco.

Hahn’s 2010 Chardonnay comes entirely from the Santa Lucia Highlands appellation in Monterey County, which is a sweet spot for this varietal.  For a wine that’s priced like a generic “California” or “Central Coast” Chardonnay, you are getting an appellation labeled wine, aged in 100% oak (18% new).  In other words, a BMW for Hyundai prices (although Hyundais are pretty nice these days).

Tropical fruit notes combine with a rich mouthfeel (from the barrel aging), to produce an all around polished and elegant wine.  You just don’t find traits like this in a $9 Chardonnay.  Another fantastic value from Hahn!

Buy Here: 2010 Hahn Estates Chardonnay $8.99

Anyone remember which appellation put Napa Valley on the map?  It was a little area on the east side of the valley called the Stags Leap District.  A bottle of 1973 Stags Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon beat out the likes of M0uton-Rothschild and Haut -Brion to win the Judgement of Paris in 1976.  Lucky for all of us, the entirety of the Napa Valley has continued that momentum, but it’s wines like this 2008 Hartwell Miste Hill Cabernet that remind me what makes the Stags Leap District such a special place for growing Cabernet.

Hartwell Miste Hill is one of my absolute favorite Cabernets.  I’ve been hoarding my last three bottles of the 2006 vintage and, though I have many more expensive bottles, this is the one I think about most often.  When it came time to celebrate my birthday at a Chicago steakhouse, I passed over my Caymus, Beringer Private Reserve and Joseph Phelps for a bottle of 2008 Hartwell Miste Hill.  I’m actually getting a little Miste just thinking about it!

This wine pours an inky purple/red that indicates quality and concentration right out of the gate.  A rich nose of dark fruit and vanilla is accented by mineral tones that set Stags Leap District wines apart from their neighbors.  Stags Leap’s average temperature is cooler than most of the valley but this “valley within a valley” heats up quickly in the morning and cools quickly at night, making a truly unique micro-climate that creates balance and freshness.  This wine is massive on the palate but somehow maintains a finesse that flows through the broad, lengthy finish.

I’ve visited Hartwell and can attest to the high end wine making practices, equipment and attention that goes into each of their wines.  There are truly no expenses spared here from the custom concrete egg fermenters imported from France, to the 100% new Bordeaux barrels.  Read about my Hartwell tasting experience here.

This is one of the most impressive Cabernets coming out of Napa Valley today and at under $40/bottle, it’s also one of the best values.

Buy Here: 2008 Hartwell Estate Miste Hill Cabernet $39.95

This wine sold out immediately after I posted it a few weeks ago, and with 91 and 92 point ratings, it’s not a big surprise.   L.A. Wine Co. just got more in at the same price, so consider yourself warned.  If you missed the first post, here is it.

This truly is a top contender for best value I’ve ever had.  I’m planning on grabbing a few more bottles myself because it sold out on me last time!

Buy Here: 2010 Domaine d’ Andezon Cotes-du-Rhone Vignerons d’Estezargues $10.95

Robert Parker 91 points

“The classic cuvee, which has long been selected by importer Eric Solomon, is their 2010 Domaine d’Andezon, a blend of 90% Syrah and 10% Grenache. While there are critics of Syrah grown in the southern Rhone, even the cynics agree that the old-vine Syrah from the Gard has a special character to it. This wine comes from 40+-year-old Syrah vines and 60+-year-old Grenache vines, bottled unfined and unfiltered after being aged in both tank and concrete. Dense ruby/purple, with a stunning nose of blackberry liqueur and jus de viande (beef/meat juices), its thrilling, intensely pure, full-bodied mouthfeel, good freshness, and striking floral character all combine for one of the very best bargains in dry red wine that readers are likely to find anywhere in the world. This is super and should continue to drink well for another 3-4 years.

This co-op, located just south of the village of Chateauneuf du Pape in the sector known as the Gard, has been a perennial top-bargain pick in The Wine Advocate.”

Rhone Report 92 points

“Easily the best vintage of this to date, the 2010 Les Vignerons d’Estezargues Cotes du Rhone Domaine d’Andezon is a tank and cement aged blend of 90% Syrah and 10% Grenache. Sporting a deep purple color as well as fantastically good aromas of pure blackberry, licorice, lavender, crushed flowers, and wet stone-like minerality on the nose. Very pure and clean, with superb richness and complexity, the wine is medium to full-bodied and beautifully textured on the palate, possessing a full, rich mid-palate, excellent balance, juicy acidity, and ripe tannin on the finish that adds additional cut and edge to all the fruit. Straight up delicious and a joy to drink, this is an awesome value that should delight for 3-5 years.” ~JD

Unlike the US, where we can call fermented Welch’s, “Reserve”, Spain has laws about what wines can be labeled as Reserva.  It has to do with the length of bottle aging and oak aging and is frankly very antiquated, but it does at least help you know what you’re getting.

In the case of the 2005 Marques de Caceres Rioja Reserva, you can expect a true reserve wine with a few extra years of bottle age for a table wine price of $15.95.  Maybe this wine is just now being imported or perhaps it was found in a back corner of a distributor’s warehouse, but it’s hard to understand how a wine of this quality (and scores) wasn’t sold years ago.

After one sip, my questions of “where did it come from” turned to “how I can get more?”  A nose of toasty cedar and sweet vanilla, leads to a broad palate that’s brought into focus by a band of acid that resonates through the finish.  For Tempranillo, this was less rustic than I expected and quite polished.  This will improve for 2-3 years and will drink great for 6-8.

Many retailers are selling this for over $20 and honestly, that’s a fair price to pay.  But why would you when L.A. Wine Co. has it for $15.95?

Buy Here: 2005 Marques de Caceres Rioja Reserva $15.95 

Wine Spectator 91 points

“This silky red offers fresh fruit flavors of plum and blackberry, with espresso and licorice notes. This is firm, bright and balanced, with a perfumed, floral finish. Drink now through 2018.”

International Wine Cellar 90 points 

“(100% tempranillo): Deep ruby. Oak-spiced cherry and blackberry on the nose, with complicating notes of licorice, vanilla and dried rose. Sappy and open-knit, with dark berry and cherry-vanilla flavors lifted by tangy acidity. Closes on a spicy note, with an echo of smoky oak. Give this a bit of time for the oak and fruit to harmonize.”