My mother likes “full-bodied, plummy” young reds, and wants to buy 6 bottles of something to fit her palate for a dinner party. Max $25 per, preferably available at retail in NYC. Suggestions?
Ripasso Valpolicella is a real crowd pleaser.
Tres Picos or Juan Gil
Can Blau
Alamos Malbec – well under $25.
Tikal Patriota – an Argentine Malbec/Bonarda blend. Should be readily available for less than $20. Very easy drinking.
The Tres Picos is <$15 and spoofy for sure.
Evodia, < $10.
From what I can tell by some brief googling, NYC in general has gone pretty hardcore AFWE.
For instance, it looks like there’s an absolute citywide ban on Mollydooker [maybe Bloomberg had his health nazis declare Mollydooker to be a 32-ounce fountain soda?]:
http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/mollydooker/1/usa-ny/
But Astor has still some Shiraz:
They’ve got a Chris Ringland 3-Rings at only $18.96:
And a Dave Powell Woodcutter’s at $24.99:
Beyond that, there’s a 2001 Moonlight Run at America’s and a 2009 Moonlight Run at Sussex:
http://www.sussexwine.com/sku21641.html
But my first choice for a crowd-pleasing big red would be Chris Ringland.
He stepped in for Sparky at Marquis-Philips [when Sarah & Sparky left to start Mollydooker], and the 2006 M-P Shiraz which Ringland made for Dan Philips is probably the best crowd-pleasing value red that I’ve ever tasted.
Ringland gets similar levels of fruit esters into his wines as does Sparky, but his style tends to be substantially smoother and more suave than Sparky’s.
PS: If your Mom wants to get all giddy and silly and foot-loose with her gal-pals, while sticking to a budget, then I strongly urge you to stock up on the Zardetto.
It’s available pretty much everywhere in the tri-state area:
Las Rocas Garnacha - $10
a bit lighter…Falesco Vitiano Rosso - $10
Spoofed.
RT
You know, as AFWE wines go, that Roilette Tardive can get pretty dadgum jammy in the big vintages:
http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/roilette+tardive/1/usa-ny/
And then there’s the Marquis, but I’ve never had that one:
http://www.centralbottle.com/wine/featured-wines/archive/occhipinti-sp68/
Just got to try this, and man it is really expressive. With air, it should temper a little and please geeks and novices.
Down here the word ‘spoof’ is slang for something you generally wouldn’t mention in the same thread as your mother.
Jeremy – For the etymologically inclined, a friend in the trade attributes the term “spoofied” to Doug Polaner, who is now an importer of some very good wines. Evidently Polaner had no Australian blood. Or doesn’t respect his mother. I don’t know him, so I can’t say. “Spoof” is a back-formation, as linguists would put it.