Will You Drink an $8.99 Wine?

I will, and do, regularly when the next version of the Ch. Ste. Cosme Little James Basket Press Rouge comes out!

I just finished a wonderful little afternoon bike ride around Lake Monroe, which takes you in to “back-woods” Florida, with Banjos twanging, pick-up trucks with rebel flags, and river crossings over the Historic St. John’s. A wildlife mecca with massive alligators everywhere. My wife is at a boring Gala event with the girls, so I whipped up a simple frittata with mushrooms, asparagus, tomatoes and fresh parm. In keeping with this country french dish, I wanted a simple, no-nonsense Southern Rhone.

And voila, the 2010 version of the Little James has arrived! It’s not really 2010, it’s NV with 50% 2010 grenache in the blend. The rest is 1999-2009, solera style. It gives the wine more depth than many new releases. A wonderful little red, but not a picnic blend as you would expect from this price point. Very varietally correct. Some provencal spice, white pepper, bright and crisp. Crunchy reds, tangy reds with some plumminess. Depth to please, lightness to refresh. A refreshing, pleasing drink. (87-88 pts.)

Now on my stump for a moment, I’ve been very unhappy with the direction Southern Rhone seems to be taking as a whole, whether that is a creature of warmer climates, Cambie-influence, or whatever, with too many wineries trying to do too much with what natures gives them, and it shows. Janasse is the perfect example. Their CDRs have almost become undrinkable for me. And then along comes a simple, cheap CDR, and I am happy again. Simple pleasures carry the day sometimes.

A house wine by the case or more. A great wine for big parties when you want something better than plonk that won’t break the bank. This wine never disappoints.

good to know–I have some on the way

Of course Dr. Loosen Dr. L $8.99 at Haskell’s on sale. Great QPR. The closeouts I have gotten in Minneapolis for less are legendary!

I haven’t had this, but I found the 2011 CDR to be undrinkable. Just terribly modern, overextracted, etc. I too have found a redeemer in the CDR category, but it is the Texier. Unfortunately the price is [nearly] twice as high.

Oh, but to answer the question, I’ve had a 2011 Oupia les Heretiques this week that was the same price and quite decent.

Spain, Southern France and Southern Italy are FULL of delicious $9 wines.

What Roberto said. And that Oupia is one of them.

Not too crazy about that Basket Press but I’d drink it if you poured it.

+1

Too much extraction and too much (inferior) syrah, I think. It makes me kind of long for old, overcropped grenache – the kind of CdR that Trader Joe used to have 10 exemplars of in any given month.

Well, OK, I don’t long for the dilute ones that much. But I do long for something that tastes like grenache and isn’t on steroids.

I really enjoy Ch. Oupia in quality years. One of the best QPRs in the market. Oyster shells!

Sorry to hear of the 2011 Cosme CDR. Not had the 2010 or 2011, but I generally enjoy Cosme’s syrah-based CDRs. Cosme does lean modern, though.

Humph. Didn’t know Oupia made a white (I assume it is from the description). Anyway, my most recent “steal” was only $6:

Trimbach Pinot Blanc 2007

P: Simple,but lemony, clear, slightly oily reasonable length, nice acidity. Drinks very well. Fantastic QPR. “"Subtle pear and lemon zest flavors are layered with earth and brine in this more traditionally styled Pinot Blanc. Bright acidity leads to a clean, fresh finish.”-Allison Napjus” Good+.
After 3 days in fridge under vacuvin (but with plenty of ullage) it was JUST AS GOOD! Kind of amazing, actually.

Prosecco with a splash of aperol

Will I drink a $9 wine? Depends on what one, duh.

This wine was recently offered by Full Pull, is widely available (even saw one at whole foods), and of course St. Cosme is a hot commodity. That said, the connection to any good St. Cosme grapes seems pretty weak, and I’m not too big on taking the time to drink just cause it’s cheap. This was always an easy pass for me but agree that finds can be had at this price point, it’s just kind of tough. Much more can be done with 14-20.

This one and several Spanish and Italian wines. As well as some other French VdP stuff. And cheapie Bordeaux.

…but for $14-$20 you get two of these and way more crunk!

Right, but if it has to be under $10 I’ll take my chances with a Valdepenas Reserva or a Garnacha over the little James basket any day. Just seems a little hokey and gimmicky to me, but I’ll wait for Scott’s review.

Not if I am close to my cellar.

worth the gamble for me. If it’s over the top I’ll just simmer a little of the alcohol out of it and use it in a braise.
Or holiday gifts for The Great Unwashed

So I’m assuming through this dismissiveness, that you have not tried the wine, right?

I acknowledge much more can be found at $15-$20 - heck, that’s probably the range of most of my easy drinker, mid-week wines. But every once in a while you find a little wine like this, or Guion or Oupia, that for under $12, you are like, “hey, this is pretty darn good”.

I’ve not found Garnacha from Spain to be an option for me, as most I have tried fall in the spoofy category.

Sure - no problem.
We have a lot of nice pleasurable, even excellent wines in Austria from (let´s say) 6.50 to 11 € - especially from my region Styria (Sauvignon blanc, Morillon=Chardonnay etc.) that I drink regilarily (white).
Moreover you can find a lot of very good reds from Southern France and CdRhone for a song, e.g. CdRhones and even Vin de Tables from Brunel, Charvin, Usseglio, Clos du Caillou, Chateau des Tours, Rostaing - Plan Pegau for instance … and wines from Languedoc, Roussilion, Ventoux etc. that are excellent every day wines.

No idea how much they are overseas …

Your basket press is my mas de guiot cab/syrah…though the price has increased…but fantastic wines for the tariff